Children of the Moon
by RainDragon28
Summary: We all know Toothless is the last Night Fury, but is he the last night dragon? As two NightWing friends from another world get thrown in the How to train your Dragon World, it's up to the last Night Fury and the Dragon Riders to help them. (Set during Race to the Edge)
1. Chapter 1

**I'm not sure if anyone's even gonna read this, but I'm posting anyway. I don't love Wings of Fire as much as HTTYD, but I'm still giving a try at a crossover. So here, hope you enjoy chapter 1!**

* * *

It's been a year now since the end of the War of the SandWing Succession. The Dragonets of Destiny had completed their quest at choosing a new queen for the SandWing tribe, which, didn't turned out as everyone expected. Then again, who would've listened to a bunch of dragonets telling then who the new queen should be between Blaze, Blister and Burn? Two of sisters surely were too stubborn to just listen and realize it could mean a chance to live. But only Blaze had been smart enough – surprisingly – to hold back her great speech on why _she_ should be queen. Thorn was now the new queen of the SandWings, Sunny's mother. Most approved, as they could see the leadership in her. Some others had to be reasoned, that she'll be a great leader. Now peace was mostly all over Pyrrhia, if it wasn't for some incidents at the Jade Mountain Academy.

Most tribes had heard about the female IceWing named Icicle, trying, and failing – thankfully – at killing Starflight, one of the Dragonets of Destiny. A great number of dragons disapproved of her for attacking a blind dragon. Even though most tribes were concerned about IceWings hating NightWings and vice versa, it still wasn't acceptable to have a dragon attack another, mostly when he was a hero – one of many who brought peace on the lands.

Now, after those events with the explosion in the cave at the Mountain, some parents of dragonets thought again about sending their young ones to a risky place to learn. Some thought, perhaps learning to know dragons from other tribes might not be such a good idea after all, especially when you mixed some dragons who've fought in the past.

But that didn't scare Darklight - a young NightWing, barely a year old, living in the rainforest with her tribe and a RainWing as her queen. After those stories she'd heard about her tribe once living on an active volcano, he understood why they were living here, in the rainforest. Though she didn't hate it – they had a lot of food supplies, a great night-sky to soar across, and amazing smells – it was better than her parents' previous lives on that island stories. Now eggs hatched in bright moonlight, giving some NightWing dragonets powers, as the ability to read minds and see the future or have visions. Darklight was born with only one of those so called gifts. Her mindreading wasn't strong, but when she let go of trying to control her powers, all she'd hear were distant whispers of many dragons' thoughts.

Curious and adventurous, she would often sneak away from her mother – which wasn't hard as she would mostly help building up the new NightWing village – and explore the rainforest on her own. She didn't have many friends, only Shadowdrift, who was another NightWing of the village, around her age – though he didn't have any powers as his egg had been hidden under a shadowing bush that wouldn't let any moonlight reach under its leaves. But he was dark as hardened lava, and had barely any silver scales at his neck.

Darklight still liked him though, he could be funny when he wanted to and would come to join her for an exploration in the rainforest.

Darklight slipped under her mother's wing that covered her as she collected water at the stream, and trotted to Shadowdrift she'd spotted helping his own mother with carrying a bucket of needles needed for the construction of the platforms, so they wouldn't be stepping on the muddy ground all the time. They wanted the buildings to be high enough from the ground, but not too high to be in bright daylight, like the RainWings loved.

''Hey, Shadowdrift,'' said Darklight as she stopped behind her friend who held the bucket between his jaws for his mother to grab the needles when she needed to.

''Hey, Darklight,'' he returned, which came out strange because of the metal handle between his jaws.

''Come on, I think I know where we can find those sloths that escaped us last time.'' she said, reaching a paw up to her mouth as she spoke close to his ear.

''Darklight,'' he said harshly, shifting his eyes from his mother to her. ''I'm kind of in the middle of something,''

''And you're about to be as well,'' said Darklight's mother as she passed them, placing a pair of satchels filled with water from the stream on her back.

''Mom!'' Darklight shrieked, startled, looking at the heavy satchel on her back. ''Mom, you're gonna break my back,''

Her mother showed a smile a gestured to follow with a move of her head. Darklight followed, staying low as she carried the satchels up where her mother said to empty them. When done, Darklight shook off the pair of satchels, dropping them to the ground.

''Okay, okay, it's done,'' said Darklight in a hurry, walking back to Shadowdrift and her mother. ''Can we go now?''

Shadowdrift placed down the bucket to the ground gently. ''So where are we going? It better not be any place dumb.'' he said, giving her a pointed look.

''No. It's a very cool place.'' she said, grinning.

''So where is this _very cool place_?'' asked Darklight's mother from behind her.

Darklight's muscles tensed up, her ears folding back. ''Uh, the second stream, on the other side of the RainWing village..!'' she tried, and Shadowdrift folded back his ears, confused.

''The second stream? What's so great about that?'' he asked.

Darklight rolled her eyes and turned around to face him. ''I'll show you when we get there,'' she whispered harshly in his ear, and he nodded, smiling.

''Oh, uh, mom? Can I go with Darklight?'' he asked, turning to her mother.

''Mmh... What do you think, Fierceclaw?'' asked Shadowdrift's mother to Darklight's.

Darklight and Shadowdrift turned to Fierceclaw, smiling hopefully. '' _Please!''_ they both said at once.

''Well,'' said Darklight's mother, looking down at them. ''It's alright with me.''

'' _Yes!_ '' they both shouted and ran past the first stream, and towards the RainWing village.

The second stream, as they called it, was the RainWings' waterhole. Queen Glory accepted them two to explore past their village borders, as she'd seen not much negativity from them like lots of NightWings, and wanted to be the best queen to these dragons as possible. She allowed them to go wherever they wanted, as long as they didn't get close to the animus tunnel leading to the NightWings' island and in the dunes of SandWing territory.

''So where are we _really_ going?'' asked Shadowdrift as they walked side by side, crossing under the RainWing village, which was built high, leaving the ground full of vegetation.

''Like I said, the second stream,'' said Darklight smugly, her head high as she looked forward.

''Are you kidding? That's the most boring place in the rainforest!'' he exclaimed, turning his head at her.

''Shh..!'' she hissed, gesturing above. It was sun-time for the RainWings. Queen Glory wouldn't be happy if they woke up a dragon – or worst, the queen herself. ''Something _at_ the stream,''

''Oh..!'' said Shadowdrift, his ear perking up. ''You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?''

''Maybe,'' she said graciously, and broke to a gallop, Shadowdrift following closely behind.

They raced to the stream, laughing and pushing each other around until they arrived, and took a sip to cool themselves off. A noise suddenly met Darklight's ears, and she looked up to see two sloths peering down at them curiously.

''Hey, look at that.'' said Darklight, looking up at the sloths. ''Two in one.''

''Okay, let's just get this over with and find that _super secret tunnel,_ '' said Shadowdrift, walking pass her, walking up the stream until they met the fall. ''Hey, I just thought of something,''

''Careful, that could hurt.'' joked Darklight, grinning.

''What if there are guards there?'' he asked, worried.

''Nah,'' she said, closing her eyes mindlessly. ''All RainWings are deeply asleep by now. And if there are here, chances are they're sleeping as well.''

''Point taken,'' said Shadowdrift and they finally reached the fall, the noise of the water getting louder as they approached it.

''There it is!'' said Darklight, gesturing of a claw the large boulder resting at the top of the fall. ''Come on!''

They beat their wings until they reached the boulder with a hole in it, big enough for a large-size dragon to get through. The inside was as dark as Shadowdrift's scales, and you couldn't tell if there was actually an end to it. But if they heard right, this was a tunnel that lead to NightWing Island, and SandWing territory.

''Let's go!'' said Darklight excitingly, about to throw herself inside, only to be held back by her friend biting her tail.

''Whoa, whoa, whoa!'' he called as soon as he let her go. ''We don't know if it's even safe. There's maybe a reason Queen Glory doesn't wants us anywhere near it. Who knows?''

''Come on, Shadow,'' said Darklight, giving her a 'you promised' look. ''You agreed!''

''Yeah, that was _before_ seeing it for real.'' he said, backing off slightly. ''I have a bad feeling.''

''Well, like it or not, _I_ 'm going in,'' she said, and took the first step in. ''Plus, you _always_ get bad feelings.''

Shadowdrift shook his head, looking down. ''Why does she have to be so stubborn?'' he questioned, and it didn't take long before he followed.

They walked in the darkness, breathing a plume of flame to see where they were going. Bumping in a wall wouldn't be professional if you asked them. The air here was _way_ hotter than in the rainforest – and the rainforest was pretty hot and humid. But there was something else about this tunnel other than the intense warmth. It was like the world wasn't right anymore.

They finally saw a dark red light at the end of the tunnel, and took cautious steps towards it, looking at each other in silence.

As they reached the open, their eyes went round, their jaws dropping.

''Whoa...'' they both said at once, awed. This was the island their parents, and grandparents and great grandparents, etc, had lived on for so long. Just _breathing_ was a hard thing to do here. They knew the volcano had erupted, and there were no longer any sign of life here, but still, were there any when the volcano was just active? When Darklight looked at some NightWings, she noticed some were still pretty scrawny. Their ribs were visible and their cheekbones were sticking out not just a little. Now Darklight was glad she'd been born in the rainforest.

The dragonets looked at each other, wordless, and advanced. Shadowdrift's front leg walked on something hard, and he looked down to realize he'd just stepped on the skeleton of a long dead dragon, probably a NightWing that hadn't escaped the volcano.

''Bones... that's just great.'' he murmured and followed Darklight. ''Hey, I think we've seen enough already, maybe we should turn back.''

''Oh, come on,'' said Darklight, twisting her neck around to face him. ''Would you stop whining a follow? There's nothing else here than packs of bones and hardened lava.''

'' _Exactly,_ '' he said, ''See? You said it yourself. Nothing to see here.''

But all Darklight did was take off into the air, and fly through the still floating smoke from the glowing ashes below. Shadowdrift growled under his breath and followed anyway, unfolding his wings and shooting after her.

Their eyes scanned their surroundings, once landing on, what they believed her name to be _Battlewinner_ 's fortress. There were destroyed stone buildings, crevices on the stone floor far below, collapsed caves, and many more.

''Hey, Darklight?'' called Shadowdrift from behind, and she twisted her neck to face him. ''Is it just me, or is there something glowing down there?'' He gestured with his talon something shinning bright below their wings, and both of them plunged down, stopping in front of the structure.

It hadn't been clear from up there, because of the blinding grey smoke, but now they could see what it was.

''Is this...''said Darklight, but Shadowdrift, expert in all knowing, was already answering.

''Nightscale's portal.'' said Shadowdrift, awed. ''I've read in some scrolls Queen Glory brought me from the Academy's library that Nightscale was an animus dragon, and built a portal, animus touched. But from what I've read, it never really worked.''

''Never really worked? What does that even mean?'' asked Darklight, confused. ''So you're saying the portal has been somehow shut down, and now it's working?''

''I don't know,'' he said, shrugging. ''Seems like.''

Darklight approached the portal, its frame stone-like, and inside the rectangular was this bright blue light, circles dancing on the bright wall.

''Wait, what are you doing?'' asked Shadowdrift, afraid she might be thinking what he thought she was thinking.

''Come on, Shadow, don't you wanna see what's on the other side?'' she asked, smiling hopefully.

''I don't need to cross to another world full of madness and death,'' he said, ''I'm very happy where I live.'' He turned his back, looking back at the tunnel leading to the rainforest. ''You may love danger, but I'm not like you.''

''Hey, look,'' she said, turning to him. ''This portal is standing in the middle of destruction. What if it was meant for us to find it?''

''Uh, hello? It's _animus touched?_ Clearly Nightscale must have enchanted it to resist any form of destruction, even a volcano.'' said Shadowdrift as if it was obvious.

The ground under their feet shook roughly all suddenly, and from the distance, they could see the bright golden-orange lava drifting down the volcano as new smoke rose from the mouth.

''Oh oh...'' said Darklight, eyes wide as they both stared at the bursting volcano, boulders flying down to them. The earth shook violently, almost knocking them off their feet. They both took off in the air as rocks flew down from the sky like shooting stars, and towards the exit, the tunnel leading back to the rainforest – back to safety.

Shadowdrift was at the lead, flying as fast as his wings could carry him, dodging the flaming boulders and trying to see through the thick smoke.

Darklight calculated the distance left, and she knew better than to take that risk. ''Shadow!'' she called as loud as she could through the rumbling noise of the volcano. He looked back at her, concerned. ''We'll never make it! We need to head back!''

''Head back? Where?'' he questioned, and he immediately knew what she was talking about. ''Oh no no-no,'' he said, shaking his head sideways.

''We don't have much of a choice!'' she roared, and she went full speed, cutting him and forcing him to fly back.

''Darklight!'' he cried out, as she pushed him to fly back.

But she ignored him and made sure he didn't turn around and flew to his death. Determined, Darklight, shot forward as she sighted a massive flaming boulder falling down from the volcano down on them, and with no question asked, both tucked their wings to their sides, and went through the portal, as the boulder who would've given them a different fate, slammed right in front of the animus touched built, blocking the bright light from view.

As soon as Darklight and Shadowdrift went through the portal, everything went bright, and they were no longer knowing of their surroundings. They only felt their bodies slamming against cool bare rock, and next thing they knew, they were dead to the world.


	2. Chapter 2

The feeling wasn't pleasant at first. Just like in the tunnel, the world didn't seem right. All she could see was darkness, and what she heard were only distant noises that she couldn't place.

Darklight winced, her eyes tightly shut as she laid on stone-cold, well, stone. Her ears twitched at the unfamiliar screeches, her nose moving on its own as she sniffed the air, still unfamiliar. Her mighty neck felt heavy, and she didn't think she'd ever be able to get up, or even wake up completely.

She finally cracked her eyes opened, only to meet bright light, and small creatures sniffing her and screeching loudly. But she couldn't come to care, as her only thought right now was to get on her feet.

Darklight leaned on her front legs, and with difficulty, she pushed herself up, ending up sitting on her rear. Her black eyes scanned her surroundings sleepily, half-opened, until they landed on her friend, Shadowdrift.

Darklight gasped, immediately jumping on her our legs and rushed to her best friend's side, who laid not that far, but not that close. The little creatures around her suddenly jumped backwards and flew away, alarmed. '' _Shadow!_ '' she called, and stopped heavily at his side. Shadowdrift was lying on his side, his eyes closed and members limp. At first, she thought he might be dead, that this was all her fault – the portal bringing them here, felt like it had taken most of her energy, and perhaps it had taken too much of Shadowdrift's, resulting to this. But when his face showed a grimace of pain, she couldn't feel anything else but relief. He rolled his body to lie on his belly, and stopped moving once again, only his rough breathing making movements at his middle. His face proved pain as his back teeth showed gritted, with his eyes forced shut.

'' _Shadowdrift,''_ she said quietly, and slid her muzzle under his chin, bringing his heavy head to lay on his front paws for more comfort. Darklight backed off, and looked down at Shadowdrift, ashamed. Her eyes followed where they could've come from, but there wasn't any trace of any portal to go back home. It's like they were thrown here, to never go back.

The small creatures she'd seen when she woke up peered down at her from the higher boulders and dead trees. Now that she paid more attention to them, she now realized she'd never seen anything like it, and wondered if they were still in Pyrrhia after all. She couldn't remember any mention of these tiny creatures, from any scrolls or whatsoever. As she looked more carefully, she noticed a pair of wings on each little colored beast, with a pair of thin grey horns, twisted in weird ways, and a tail with a pointy end to it. Even if she'd never seen something like it, she could tell it was a dragon. Nothing she's ever seen before, of course, no dragon in Pyrrhia was _this_ small. If she calculated, these little dragons were the size of the inside of her paw, or perhaps just one big claw.

Darklight wasn't usually afraid of new – she explored the rainforest most of the time, coming across all sorts of different new things - but somehow, for some sick-twisted reason, this scared her. She felt her heart pounding quickly in her chest as all the little dragons surrounding her stared at her, their expression unreadable like a chameleon's. Their eyes were like animals', a sharp line on orange.

She slowly backed off, going back to Shadowdrift as if he'd scare them away, and lied beside him, her wing brushing his gently. Ears up and eyes round, Darklight focused on letting nothing reach her friend while he was in this state.

Her mind was opened to listen to the tiny dragons' thoughts, but she quickly gave up as all she heard was a loud hum, like there was nothing in there – just like when she'd listen to wild animals in the rainforest.

Now Darklight was sure. They weren't in Pyrrhia anymore. This was another place – maybe even another world... And she didn't know what was awaiting her out there as she looked out at the ocean passed the light forest of dead trees.

 _If there's anything out there at all..._

...

Out at sea, a fleet of massive ships sailed towards the Isle of Night, on search for wild dragons to capture for their need.

Ryker stood on the nose of the ship, holding on to a large iron spike sticking out of the ship's front, his dragon-proof sword with sharp teeth held tightly in the other hand. His dark brown eyes scanned the horizon for any island or dragon, growling low as nothing came in sight. He turned around, and stepped on the wooden deck, taking furious steps towards the middle.

''Change course, we head north,'' ordered Ryker, and his men immediately went to their post to redirect the ship, with the fleet behind eventually following. But as a loud, powerful and unfamiliar roar reached them, their course remained, and they sailed in the direction of the cry. This sure had to be one big dragon – great for the market. The island came in sight in no time, bare rock all over it with dead black trees hiding something big.

''Prepare the spears and nets!'' Ryker called out to his men, and they went. He wasn't quite sure what was behind those trees, but it wasn't small, and it was dark. A smile showed on his lips as a thought came to him. A Night Fury would be a great catch, and its rider with it would be even better. ''Wait 'till they're in range,''

...

Darklight roared as the little creatures approached them curiously. She didn't want any of these tiny dragons anywhere near her or Shadowdrift. Maybe they didn't mean any harm, but she still saw them as a threat, and would snarl and roar loudly for them to go away.

The sky was getting darker, the first stars showing against the dark blue above, shimmering bright. At least something wasn't so different, except there was only one moon instead of three or two, which Darklight found unsettling. Her eyes looked up at the sky, and lowered her head when she thought of home, with her mom... in the rainforest. It hadn't even been a day, and she already missed her. What would she have done if she was at Jade Mountain Academy?

Her heart flew across the skies that night, hoping that somehow, thing would be okay in the end.

Darklight leaned against Shadowdrift, her chin on top of his spiky back. Her eyes became heavy, and sleep slowly carried her away. That was until a loud _CRACK_ caused her ears to shot straight up, and her eyes wide open. Her breathing was loud as her heart beat hard in her chest, searching for the source of the noise. _Maybe it was just an animal._.. she thought to herself, but when a long iron stick came plunging itself a little too close to Shadowdrift's head, she knew she was wrong.

Rising to her feet, Darklight roared, beating her wings threateningly to the incomers, baring her teeth and narrowing her eyes, hopefully frightening what appeared to be... scavengers? Darklight froze.

From what she remembered, scavengers were what killed Queen Oasis of the SandWings a long time ago, starting the Great War of SandWing Succession. Even when she was in another world, these little monsters kept coming after dragons.

These scavengers were way bigger than the one she'd seen in Pyrrhia, and what covered them was different than anything she'd ever seen. They appeared out of nowhere, holding on pointy sticks up at her menacingly. Darklight roared again, and inhaled, readying the fire down her throat.

''Take cover!'' she heard one scavenger shout, which took her back as the only sounds those back home did were squeaks and other weird annoying sounds. But it didn't stop Darklight, and fire shot from between her jaws, burning those creatures to the bone. The smell of burning flesh reached her nose, and she covered her snout with one wing in disgust. Scavengers went running around on fire, while some carried on with their sticks up at her.

Darklight roared again, taking one heavy step forward, closing her jaws around one of the scavengers she found too close to her and Shadowdrift, throwing him in the air, and hopefully breaking its bones when it'll fall down against the hard surface.

At the back, Ryker smiled as he realized why the dragon wouldn't fly away, like most dragons would have done it these situations. ''Ahh... I see.'' he said, his brows furrowed. ''You wanna protect your friend.'' He laughed, and pulled on the cord of the bow, aiming at the black dragon he knew was a female, and let go.

Darklight bit another scavenger's head off, throwing it as far as she could to avoid this unpleasant sight. But as she was about to do it again, pain struck her in the neck, and she reached the arrow stuck in her scales with her talon, pulling it out. She observed the arrow, finding a strange green substance at the head, and wondered what that thing could possibly do as she felt nothing but the new wound bleed. She threw it at scavenger, and it plunged itself right through its middle, sending it collapsing to the ground, lifeless.

Darklight wasn't aware of it, but two scavengers had managed to crawl on top of the cliff behind her, carrying a net between them. And as Darklight was about to breathe more fire, the net fell on her head, and a scavenger appeared between her horns, doing loops around her jaws with a rope, keeping her mouth shut. The NightWing thrashed her head around, trying to free herself from those ropes, but it was useless, and she finally exhausted herself on her own, collapsing to the ground, whining loudly as she looked up to see the scavengers approaching.

She noticed them pass her, and to Shadowdrift. She wanted to fight again, protect him from these smelly beasts, but she knew it would be pointless. Her wings, legs and mouth were tightly roped, leaving her with no other choice than lie there.

''Never mind that one!'' called Ryker to his men approaching to other dragon, who was already down when they arrived. ''It won't survive.''

Darklight looked up at what she guessed was the leader, and still couldn't believe she could understand them. She saw from the corner of her eye, the two scavengers that had passed her to get Shadowdrift come back empty handed.

She felt dragged against the stone, pulled and pushed to a floating structure on the water. Her ears twitched as she heard unknown roars coming from inside, her eyes round as she could tell they were of pain and distress.

She may not know where she was or why these creatures wouldn't kill her, but she knew very clearly, that she was about to get no good.

...

Morning light finally came, and the NightWing cracked his eyes open, gazing at his surroundings unconsciously. His vision was blurry, and all he could see was grey and white with colorful spots dancing around.

Shadowdrift shook his head, trying to clear the sight, only to give him a terrible headache. He reached a talon up to a temple, shutting his eyes painfully until it passed. He opened them again, and realized those spots were nothing else but living creatures walking around him and standing on the branches of dead trees.

With a demanding effort, he rose to his four legs, and looked around, searching for Darklight.

'' _Darklight?''_ he called, his ears opened for a reply. He tried again. '' _Darklight!''_

...

Up high in the sky, two dragons and their riders soared in the fresh morning air, twirling and falling to fly back up. Hiccup and Astrid threw each other the spyglass they shared, looking forward at the horizon and down at the ocean for any sign of new dragons or islands.

''You see something?'' asked Hiccup seriously as Astrid gasped after removing the spyglass from her eye. She looked back at him, smiling, amused at his excitement. She just loved to see his face when she made him think she found something. ''Oh, come on!''

''You're so hopeful!'' she laughed, and directed Stormfly downwards, closer to the ocean where she spotted some sea stacks.

Hiccup and Toothless weren't far behind, and followed as she and her Nadder zigzagged between the high sea stacks, twirling and changing ways now and then. They both finally landed on one of the high rocks to rest a little before going back.

Hiccup dismounted and approached the edge, hands on his hips as he looked out at the endless ocean, looking sad. Astrid walked to his side, wondering why he made that face all suddenly.

''What are you thinking about?'' she asked, looking where his eyes looked.

For a moment, Hiccup said nothing and looked down. ''It's just,'' he started, ''we've been outside the Archipelago for almost a year now. We've discovered new islands, found new dragons...''

''So? What's not to be happy? Except for the fact that Viggo has the Dragon Eye and is slaughtering dragons...'' said Astrid, feeling sick at that last one.

''It's just, we've enlarged the playfield, and we haven't found another dragon like Toothless.'' said Hiccup, looking back at his buddy who returned the look. ''I just wished there was another Night Fury for him...''

''Hiccup, I don't mean to bring your hopes down,'' said Astrid as he sat at the ledge. ''But Toothless is probably the last of his kind. Our chances of finding another of his kind are very small.''

''I know,'' said Hiccup, dropping his gaze. ''It's just a thought, you know?''

''You've already been over this, Hiccup.'' said Astrid, ''and you said it yourself. There's nothing wrong in being one of a kind. Am I right?''

''Yeah, you're right.'' said Hiccup lightening up a little. ''We should head back, though – before Snotlout and the twins empty the new supply of Monstrous Nightmare gel, again. Plus, I'm getting hungry.''

''I like the sound of that.'' said Astrid as she hopped on Stormfly, taking hold of the handles.

A loud, calling roar met their ears, and both dragons and riders turned their heads towards the source of the call.

''Uh, that I don't like the sound of...'' added Astrid, looking out at the ocean.

''Me neither,'' said Hiccup, hopping on Toothless. ''But we still have to check it out.''

It wasn't very Astrid to actually be afraid of the owner of a distant, unfamiliar roar, but she had this feeling inside that whatever the dragon, it didn't belong here.


	3. Chapter 3

Shadowdrift didn't understand. Where had Darklight gone? Surely she wouldn't have abandoned him, would she?

He didn't remember much, only that he'd felt falling against cool stone, which, he stood on right now. His black eyes shifted from this to that - everything very unfamiliar. He didn't recall ever been here. No picture popped in his mind saying ''Hey! I know this place!'' It was rather terrifying out here.

He could see endless water passed dead trees from where he stood, trembling like a leaf. If he was right, he was on an island. If he knew where to go, he'd go by now – but he didn't know how long he'd have to fly until he reached another land... Who knew? He might take off and finally find nothing and he'd die of tiredness or drowned in the middle of the ocean.

He wasn't taking the risk.

Cautious with every step, Shadowdrift walked around the spot he'd woke up, growing his circle now and then as he searched for his missing friend. He roared out Darklight's name as loud as he could without being afraid of getting something's attention.

It was after a while that he gave up and sat, roaring out the names of every dragon he knew in Pyrrhia for help.

The sun was getting high in the sky - warmth level going up. Being dark, Shadowdrift backed off in the shadow of the cliff behind him, avoiding the sunlight as best as he could – as well as hide from anything that might be out there to kill him.

But he didn't give up calling out friends' names.

...

Hiccup and Astrid held tight to their saddles as their dragons soared in the skies, four pairs of eyes searching for the source of the unfamiliar roars.

''You see something?'' called out Hiccup to his partner flying on her Nadder behind him.

The question remained unanswered as Astrid's eyes shifted from here to there, until they landed on a small grey island far below.

''I do!'' she called out to Hiccup, and pulled Stormfly to a stop. ''There!'' With an index, she gestured down to a deserted island owning only rocks and dead trees.

Hiccup pulled out his spyglass and brought it up to his eye to take a better look. ''Hey, that's the Isle of Night.'' he stated, confused. ''That island has nothing else on it living but Terrors.''

''Well, if you think about it, that roar can't come from a tiny dragon. So I'd say there's more on that island than Terrible Terrors, if you ask me.'' said Astrid, crossing her arms over her chest.

''Well,'' said Hiccup, putting his spyglass away and taking hold of both handles. ''That island isn't exactly tiny. Let's land and see if we can find something.''

He and Toothless plunged down towards the rock-land, followed by Astrid and Stormfly.

It didn't take much time to drop down there and the two dragons' feet hit the solid ground heavily. Hiccup straightened himself as Toothless started walking cautiously.

''That call didn't seem very happy.'' stated Astrid, her voice low as she and Hiccup searched the island quietly. ''You think it may be a dragon in distress?''

''I-I don't know.'' admitted Hiccup. ''Honestly, I have no idea what kind of dragon that roar could've belonged to.''

''Well, discovering new dragons is what you love to do.'' said Astrid as Stormfly came to Toothless' side. ''Here you go.''

Toothless paused and roared low at his rider in amusement. ''Oh, gods... You too, bud?'' said Hiccup, and Toothless only laughed before catching up with the Deadly Nadder ahead.

The island was actually kind of quiet. Surprisingly, no Terrible Terrors stood in the trees like Hiccup and Astrid had seen them do so many times when they flew over while exploring before building the Edge.

Black eyes stared at the two weird-looking dragons and scavengers _riding_ them. Terrified, the dragon backed off slowly, unfortunately knocking a couple small rocks with its talon.

The four heads turned towards him suddenly as their attention had been brought here by the sound, and Shadowdrift didn't last another second staying unmoving and hoping they'd go away. He broke to a run in the opposite direction, making much noise as he breathed hard and galloped loudly, his wings and tail brushing trees as he went.

''There!'' called Hiccup, pointing at the dark shape getting away.

There were no question asked, and Toothless and Stormfly took off after the strange beast, flying close to the ground as they followed it.

Better for narrow turns and avoiding the trees, Toothless shot forward, his eyes narrowed on the new discovery.

''What _is_ this thing?!'' shrieked Astrid as she got a good look at what was indeed a dragon - but not one she recalled seeing before.

''I have _no_ idea...'' said Hiccup honestly, bent low on Toothless. ''Alright, let's get him, bud.''

Toothless prepared a plasma blast and fired at the next tree the dragon was about to pass.

It jerked its head upwards and for a moment, they were almost sure it came to a stop, but it only ran into another direction, terrified.

Shadowdrift didn't know how to escape these things. He had no idea. Everything was different. And it scared him. And worst of all, he could _understand_ what those scavengers were saying! Not to mention the fact they seemed to be a bigger version of those back home.

''Alright, Toothless, give me all you got!'' said Hiccup to his dragon, patting his head. Toothless looked up at him and returned his focus on the black dragon still running fast in front. He fired another plasma, and it hit a large boulder the dragon was about to pass.

An explosion of rocks hit the dragon, sending it stumbling to the opposite direction. It caught itself a couple times as it tried escaping the small avalanche of rocks, but it was held back by one heavy rock slamming at the tip of his tail, his greatest weak-spot.

The dragon roared in agony, clawing the ground desperately as his legs refused to lift him up.

Shadowdrift whined in pain and fear as he leaned his chin against the cool rock plate under his mighty body, his breathing heavy and loud with his heart pounding fast in his chest. That was it. He'd soon have a spear through the head from a scavenger. That was his fate. He always knew it. Urgh, he knew he had a bad feeling about this!

One of the two strange creatures landed before his snout, jet-black in color with bright wide eyes. He'd never seen anything like it. Not even in the scrolls he'd gotten from the Academy. It somehow looked like a NightWing, but not. It didn't own any horns and it surely wasn't the right size. But the color... It was somehow comforting. That was until his eyes landed on the scavenger on its back.

The trapped dragon tried to back off, whining, its claws digging on the rock surface.

Astrid approached with Stormfly once she landed, and came to Hiccup and Toothless.

''So,'' said Astrid. ''What do you suppose it is?''

''I have not a single clue,'' he replied, scanning the creature before him from horn to wingtip. ''It's darker than Toothless, that's for sure.''

''It almost looks like a Night Fury...'' stated Astrid, bending her head on one side.

''It does.'' agreed Hiccup, nodding. He dismounted, receiving a concern look from his buddy as he patted his snout gently and approached the new dragon. ''Hey there, big guy. I've ever seen anything like yah before.''

Shadowdrift felt silence as he listened at what the creature before was saying. His ears were up, attentive to the scavenger's words. He didn't know why, but it was like it was a dragon itself - the fact that he could understand and feel what it was feeling. All those stories about Queen Oasis killed by these creatures suddenly seemed all lies. This wasn't a vicious beast - but an intelligent, gentle creature.

Shadowdrift stared into its eyes, oddly similar to his - round and colorful.

''Now, we can help you get out of here if you let us help you.'' said Hiccup. He reached out a hand to the dragon, whose eyes shifted from his eyes to his hand. Hiccup wasn't sure if the dragon was listening to him, or thinking of him as a dinner. The way he stared at him, it seemed like it was struggling between eating him or not.

The dragon bared its teeth just slightly as he saw the little paw getting closer. It seemed so soft, so gentle. But still, what he'd heard about them kept screaming no – saying he has to bite off the head. They may seem vulnerable and defenceless, but once they're in groups, they can hunt like actual dragons.

The scavenger retrieved its paw, inhaled slowly and closed its eyes as it turned its head away, reaching out once more. Shadowdrift's narrowed eyes turned soft as it out-stretched its limb once again, this time looking away. Was this trust?

Shadowdrift felt something he felt when he was with Darklight. Trust – friendship. If that scavenger trusted him, does this mean he should try and trust him as well? Perhaps. He doesn't know much about these little creatures. He knew some dragons kept them as pets, but right now, he felt like _he_ would be the pet. How come?

Without fully thinking what he was doing, Shadowdrift pushed his shout inside the scavenger's little paw, closing his eyes softly and breathing out some warmth. Somehow, he suddenly felt connected to the creature, like it was one of his own.

He noticed the other NightWing-like dragon at the back smiling, his eyes soft and calm. Was he with the scavenger? Did he trust it enough to have him on his back?

''Alright, I think we're good.'' said the scavenger he'd given his trust to. ''Now let's get those rocks off you.''

The other dragon – blue and covered with many spines – approached, and another scavenger –a female he supposed – slid down her back and joined the male one to take off those rocks from his tail.

The black and blue dragon approached him in greeting, cooing and squawking – different sounds for different dragons. Shadowdrift didn't know why he understood the scavengers but no _them._ He could read their facial expression and what they were trying to say, but no word came out from their mouths – only wild animal sounds. To be honest, his first hope had been to talk with the NightWing-like one... guess there goes that wish.

Shadowdrift suddenly felt his tail lighter, and twisted his neck to find himself free.

With effort, he pushed himself up. Once he had his neck correctly curved, he felt at the other dragons' height – a better feeling than being pinned to the ground helplessly.

''There,'' said Hiccup to the great black dragon standing straight before him, his eyes so human-like. The dragon bent his head to the side curiously like it didn't understand what he wanted to say. ''You're free.''

''Hiccup,'' said Astrid from behind him. ''I don't think he's from around here. Perhaps he's lost.''

''How can a dragon get lost?'' questioned Hiccup, turning to face her.

Astrid crossed her arms over her chest. ''Lots of reasons.''

Hiccup sighed, his shoulders dropping and raised his head to the creature before him. ''Well, I guess we have space back at the Edge. How about you come with us?'' he proposed, gesturing to him.

The dragon gave a low roar, lowering his head delicately. He gave a light push at Hiccup's hand, and Hiccup rubbed his cheek gently.

Shadowdrift jerked his head backwards as the scavenger's paw brushed his scales. It was so gentle and soft. He lowered his head once again and asked for more. This was something he'd never felt before – this kindness.

''Guess you've never seen a human before, huh?'' said the male scavenger as it brushed its paw against his black scales.

 _Human._ Was that their real names? It sounded way better than _scavenger._

''Now, let's get you to Dragon's Edge.'' said Hiccup as he walked away from his new friend and hopped on Toothless. ''You're gonna love it.''


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, guess what? It would appear fanfiction has been calling for me. After so many months, I hope my writing style hasn't changed. Enjoy chapter 4!**

 **Thank you for your patience, people. I really needed a looooong break.**

* * *

Shadowdrift wasn't so sure if he wanted to stay here, where Darklight's scent still hang in the air, where he could be closest to his lost friend, or follow these two _humans_ to their home as they had proposed to him. He still really felt uncomfortable being around something that back home would be called a _scavenger_ and that would be used as pets and make squeaking sounds and here they could literally _talk_ and he could _understand_ them. When he looked at the Nightwing-like dragon, its scales as dark as night, it seemed to be the human _'s_ pet, and not the opposite.

When the male human hopped on top of the black dragon, clicking what sounded like metal, Shadowdrift couldn't help but wonder if he _should_. What if Darklight returned and he wasn't here anymore for her to find him? What if they'd never see each other again? Crossing the animus-touched tunnel has definitely been the biggest mistake in their lives… if those were to last any longer, of course…

But then again, what if she didn't come back? What if he might be waiting for an eternity? Out here, on this deserted island with only colored spots to keep him company?

 _Better do something about it then stay out in the open like a sitting duck… predators waiting for the right moment to strike…_

Plus, his tail hurt. Like badly. He could trust these humans, right? After all, these strange dragons trusted them. And he's a dragon.

The sky-blue bird-like dragon squawked, unfolding its wings and shot in the air with its rider on its back. By the looks of the gracious movements and delicate frame of that creature, Shadowdrift was almost sure this was a female. His dark eyes stared up at the dragon, and his focus suddenly changed to the sky itself.

''Come on, boy,'' said the human sitting on the most familiar dragon. Shadowdrift brought his dark brown gaze back on the human he had showed trust. ''You can trust us. We help dragons around here. Let us help _you._ ''

 _I hope you can…_

Unfolding his black wings at his turn, the Nightwing threw his massive body, compared to the other two dragons, into the opened sky, beating his massive expands to climb higher, following the blue dragon while followed by the Nightwing-like.

They reached a comfortable level in the air and kept flying in a straight line.

''Whoa…'' said Hiccup as he flew Toothless below the night dragon. ''Astrid, you gotta see this.''

Shadowdrift lowered his gaze at the dragon and rider flying under him, the human looking up under his wings, which revealed hundreds and thousands of bright white tiny dots that looked like stars, giving the impression a clear night sky. That made him owe the night, as he could fly right by without being noticed.

''Sharp!'' exclaimed the female rider, passing right under his wings before returning to its, no, _her_ role of leading them to their home, probably an island. ''Toothless, you have competition!''

 _Toothless..?_

''I wouldn't be so sure about that.'' _he_ said, clearly disapproving his little friend's statement. Patting his dragon's head, he added ''I bet the Night Fury's states are _way_ higher than this thing.''

'' _Hey! I'm not a_ thing. _''_ shouted the Nightwing, coming out more as a deep yowl for the riders and other dragons.

But the two humans only giggled. Clearly they wouldn't understand him even if _he_ understood them. It must be the same for the other dragons around here. From what he saw, _they_ understood. And again, the dragons wouldn't understand him either. They also seemed much more animal-like than back in Pyrrhia, with sharp yellow and toxic-green eyes with a black scratch.

They kept flying, and flying… His wings were starting to grow tired compared to the others, who seemed like they could fly another day non-stop. The sun was beginning to go down by the time they spotted the island they were aiming for. What had the human said it was called? Dragon's Edge? It's highest top was covered in snow, with the lower part of the island covered with vegetation. But those trees did not look like those back in the rainforest, where he and Darklight explored many times over and over. They had tropical trees, not like… these.

Shadowdrift frowned sadly as he took a moment, hovering there, soaring through his thoughts of how much he already missed the forest, his village, his mom, the safety of the canopy, his queen, and much more… like Darklight.

As the two dragons he'd been traveling with all day flew down more towards the edge of the island, he shook his head to clear the images and followed, glad they were finally here, on _Dragon's Edge._ The name still felt weird in his mind. He wasn't used to such simple names for locations. The scrolls he'd read would mention names more like 'Claws of the Clouds Mountains'.

As he approached the structures where the two humans landed, a loud cry broke the peaceful and quiet atmosphere. He immediately turned his brown eyes on the frame below as it ran across what appeared to be bridges.

''There's a giant dragon!'' a scrawny male human with large spikes sticking out from each side of his head bellowed, running back into what would appear to be the main structure of the place.

Shadowdrift finally landed on the same platform like the two others did, dropping his tired wings on each side of his dark body. He'd never flown such a long distance before. The only times he'd really fly in the sky would be at night, just to enjoy the fresh night air with Darklight while the sun was absent. With the three moons shiny upon their heads, he could've asked for no more. But this hadn't been a light night flight. This had been an all-day flight accompanied by strange creatures above an open ocean with the sun beating down on his black scales.

Shadowdrift lifted his head as the male human he trusted most approached him, stretching an arm out to stroke his scales on his neck. Shadowdrift had kept his eyes on the pink paw until it reached his neck, unknowing of what his reaction should be. He met the human's emerald-green eyes again, full of love and only kindness to those who deserved it.

 _I can trust him… otherwise, why would've he helped me? Are all scavengers around here good, unlike in Pyrrhia?_

Shadowdrift let out a soft growl and closed his eyes as the human placed his hand on his dark grey snout. The rider smiled in returned and gestured to follow as he turned around and started walking towards the closest building.

''Come now, let's get you cared of.'' he said, and he followed instantly.

They passed two metal gates, small signs painted in different colors on them, and inside, torches lit up the place that looked just like a stable.

"You're gonna be sleeping here for tonight, big guy.'' said the human, opening the door of a stall.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry again for such a long pause, guys... This time I'm planning to continue this story progressively. For those who wonder if it'll ever be discontinued, the answer is no. This is too good, even for me. Well, enjoy chapter 5!**

* * *

Sharp screeches echoed to Shadowdrift's ears, forcing his eyes to crack open to see pale dawn light piercing through the cracks in the ceiling and walls. Lifting up his head that felt like a boulder, he parted his jaws and a huge yawn escaped.

At first he thought he was back in the rainforest, with the pale dawn light and distant screeches of waking dragons. But where he found himself was nowhere near this environment. A sudden wave of loneliness washed over him once again, but he was easily distracted by a strong smell from the corner of his stall made him turn around, and there, rested a bucket filled with freshly caught silver fish. Shadowdrift wiped his tongue over his scaly lips at the sight of such delicious looking food, but then backed off shaking his head.

'' _I shouldn't_.'' he said to himself, dragging his gaze to the floorboards. _''This is strangers' food. What if it's poisoned?''_

He tried to resist, but with a screaming belly, that was hard thing to do. Knowing raw meat didn't taste as good as cooked, Shadowdrift breathed a plume of fire on the first fish on top of the pile and grabbed it between his front teeth carefully. He practically cooked every single one and in a matter of minutes the bucket was empty.

Just as a gracious cat would do, he curved his back with his forearms outstretched, talons apart.

Shadowdrift still couldn't believe it. Scavengers gave him shelter. Ha! That'll be one story to tell back home.

He marched out of the stall, his pupils sharp as he inspected the room. This was almost like Queen Glory's fortress of wood planks and trees, except of course, no tree grew through the structure crossing the whole building from floor to roof. There was a faint scent of the two other dragons he had traveled with that floated around—faint, but still there. Maybe they slept here once in a while, but guessing they might've left him the whole room for him to be at peace, they spent the night elsewhere. Probably with their own rider, seen how much they were close to each other.

''Yah!'' came a yowl from outside.

Shadowdrift poked his dark scaled head out, his brown eyes looking around uncertainly for the source of the cry. The sun shone brightly against a pale blue background brushed with few clouds. The NightWing exited the stables' great metallic gates and approached the edge of the landing platform. He searched down below where he heard the voice and spotted the sky-blue dragon from yesterday and her rider that somewhat looked like they were training in this round stony pattern in the ground.

The human girl hopped on her passing dragon and grabbed the leather saddle tightly with her hand, the other one occupied by a weapon. She looked up and her body followed her movement, a quiet command for the bird-like creature to fly upwards. Shadowdrift stared at the two of them in amazement. It seemed so unnatural to see such a thing, and he couldn't imagine any relation like this back in Pyrrhia. Was this even real, or was he just dreaming right now? He wasn't sure anymore.

Just to make sure, he looked down at his forearm and pinched it with his dull claws. Shadowdrift winced at the sharp squeeze of his skin, confirming everything was very real.

''Now this. This! This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.'' Shadowdrift's ears flew up and he twisted his mighty neck to face down at two humans with horns coming out of the side of their heads.

''What do you presume it is, dear explorer Thorston?'' asked Ruffnut, reaching a hand to her chin as she examined the NightWing.

''A dragon?'' asked Tuffnut, actually uncertain.

The other twin gasped, eyes round. ''Why would you say that?'' she asked, widening her arms.

''Haven't you _seen_ this magnificent creature?'' demanded Tuffnut, gesturing as Shadowdrift who seemed exceedingly confused by this non-sense. ''Look at it, scales as dark as night, even darker than Toothless'..! Wings, oh those glorious wings… I can't believe Hiccup hasn't realized it yet.''

''Hiccup hasn't realized _what_ yet?'' came a voice behind the twins as their leader approached.

''Hiccup!'' cheered Tuffnut, throwing his arms in the air. ''There you are. You're about to witness one of our biggest records.''

''Oh, yeah?'' said Hiccup crossing his arms as Tuffnut turned around to face the NightWing once again. ''What's that?''

''The one and single Tuffnut Lavern Thorston, first of his kind, about to touch the scale of a—'' A whistle screamed to their ears and Nadder spines came plugging down between Shadowdrift and Tuffnut.

''Hey!'' yelled Tuffnut up at Astrid, stomping his foot frustratingly. ''Hiccup! You witnessed that, right?''

''This dragon is not to be _toyed_ with, twins!'' called Astrid down at them before directing Stormfly back down to the arena.

''Stupid Astrid.'' mumbled Ruffnut under her breath, standing next to her brother. ''Always ruining everything.''

''She's right, guys.'' said Hiccup, placing a hand on the twins' shoulders. ''This dragon just came in last night. I don't think he's ever seen humans before, so, please try not to agitate him?''

''He doesn't seem very agitated to me.'' commented Tuffnut innocently as he gazed up at the great night dragon. Shadowdrift angled his head curiously, trying to sort out this mess.

Hiccup led them both away from the NightWing and returned with Toothless following his rider closely by. ''Hey there, big guy.'' greeted Hiccup as he waved a hand to the new dragon. ''Quite an intro, uh? Don't worry, the twins aren't usually this annoying... Just, most of the time.''

Shadowdrift looked down at him as if he was one of his own. He was slowly starting to place personalities for each of the humans he'd met and he could already tell by now that Hiccup was the leader. He reminded him a bit of Queen Glory. She didn't have the built or merciless of previous queens he'd heard about in stories, but she was brilliant and had a big heart for her tribe. Here, he could see the same in this little scrawny human.

A gasp surprised them three as Fishlegs appeared at the corner of the stables, hands to his chubby cheeks in awe. ''Why didn't anyone call me?'' he demanded, rushing to Hiccup's side to study the newcomer. ''Hiccup! Why didn't you tell me about this?!''

Hiccup didn't have time to answer as his friend approached the NightWing, gazing up into his brown eyes.

''Hiccup, he looks so much like—'' he began, but Hiccup knew what he was going to say.

''A Night Fury?'' he said, examining the NightWing as well. ''Yeah, he does.''

Toothless growled gently back at his rider, stroking the side of his head on his arm for a scratch which he received.

''Hiccup, this is an amazing discovery.'' realized Fishlegs, taking out a booklet filled with scribbled that left nearly no spot to add information. ''I don't recall anything about this dragon. Not in the Book of Dragons or anything for that matter..! Do you think it might be a distant cousin of the Night Fury?''

'' _Wait, no no no!''_ softly growled Shadowdrift, taking a step back and curving his neck in protest of their statements. _''You don't understand, I'm not from here! I need your help to find my friend.''_

''It's almost like he can understand us!'' said Fishlegs, his eyes round with new theories. ''This dragon might be extremely clever!''

''Fishlegs, I think he looks more like he's trying to tell us something.'' commented Hiccup, furrowing his eyebrows as the NightWing suddenly adapted a strange behavior.

'' _Exactly.''_ groaned Shadowdrift, peering his ears up in agreement with the leader. _''Listen to you friend. Darklight - my friend - we were thrown here by a portal from NightWing Island in Pyrrhia..! I need you to help me find her and go back home,_ please.''

But with all these soft growls and head thrashing to gesture out into the ocean, he only had these riders confused and all his talk felt like for nothing.

'' _Who am I kidding?''_ he said to himself, letting his eyes drop to the planks under his claws. _''You don't understand a word I'm saying. Maybe it's best if I just go back to that miserable island and wait for her to come back.''_

''Toothless.'' said Hiccup to his dragon and Toothless understood right away. This dragon wasn't feeling well and he needed some company. The Night Fury sprang around the NightWing, his tongue dragging from the corner of his mouth. He slid beneath the starry wing and ran back to his rider. Shadowdrift understood it was an invitation. To where? He wasn't sure. But the black dragon brought him some comfort and he agreed to follow.

Strangely, the two humans took a different direction while the black dragon insisted to take another path. Shadowdrift watched his intelligent toxic green eyes dig into his and gesture down at the lower level of the base. He followed his gaze and understood at that moment and let his new friend show him his world.


	6. Chapter 6

Darklight's eyes scanned her surroundings fearfully, studying every movement of these strange scavengers walking back and forth across the hallway cutting straight in the middle of this floating invention. She could tell by the steady rock that they'd left the lonely island and that they were probably far enough away from it by now. Anxiety clawed at her gut like talons as she thought of Shadowdrift. She couldn't believe she'd lost to a bunch of scavengers and been taken away from her friend.

'' _Never mind that one! It won't survive.''_

The huge leader scavenger's words echoed in her mind endlessly, scaring her to death. If Shadowdrift was dead, it was all because of her. She was the one who'd insisted to cross the forbidden tunnel and led them to this mess.

She laid her mighty head on the dirty floor, claw marks scarred into the wood. Her snout hurt from the gash the rope had created, leaving bare skin where the dark scales had been rubbed off. Her breath scattered the sand on the floorboards, raising a little cloud of dust that had her eyes water slightly. In that moment, she couldn't help let the tears stream across her cheeks as she thought of her mother and how much she missed her – how much she missed everyone.

The leader scavenger, different in looks from the ones she'd supposed were guards, walked up to her cell and looked down at her with a smile on its face.

''So? How's the newcomer doing?'' said the scavenger, placing both mighty hands on its sides while looking down at her. ''Getting comfortable I hope? Well you better, 'cause you're gonna be here for a while.''

The way its familiar brown eyes locked with hers was unsettling and she refused to look weak in front of it. Darklight curved back her strong neck, summoning a deep growl down her throat to appear as threatening as possible before this overconfident creature with a toothed green sword at its back.

But it only chuckled amusingly and shoved a fish through a square of the gate the same color as its weapon and simply walked away, doing the same with the next cell.

Darklight looked down at the food and twitched her upper lip in discuss.

 _Urgh… You couldn't have cooked it, no?_ she thought, leaning down to smell the smelly meat.

Suddenly, focused on the quality of the food and wondering how to eat it, Darklight's mind echoed with voices that had her shoot her head straight up. Her ears flew up attentively, but nobody was talking near her. The lips from the guards that seemed ready to die from boringness didn't move a bit and she couldn't see anyone else near her cell. But as she listened closely, she recognized it to belong to the leader and she hurried up to pick up what she believed to be its thoughts.

 _Stupid reptiles,_ it echoed, bouncing against imaginary walls in her head. _If only they knew how to use a key. Ha!_

''A key?'' whispered Darklight, looking down thoughtfully. Her gaze drifted at the guards and noticed many keys hanging to a shiny ring attached to each of their belts. ''Yes. That's my way out.''

…

Shadowdrift sat on the edge of the platforms from Hiccup's hut, looking out to this world he barely knew. The single moon gave a finishing touch at the ink-blue night sky dotted of stars, but the absence of two other moons made Shadowdrift feel like he was missing something. And indeed, he was. His thoughts wouldn't let go of Darklight, and he wondered where she might be in this vast strange world. His brown eyes searched the wild ocean before him that seemed to stretch out forever, wondering where its end could be.

 _Maybe there isn't,_ he thought, the emotions catching up to him. _Maybe Dark is lost forever…_

'' _What if I never find her_?'' he softly growled, bringing his gaze up to the bright white moon that looked like it was trying to give him advice. Only he couldn't hear it.

A curious coo from behind him had Shadowdrift twist his head around to meet eyes with the black dragon.

'' _Oh, it's you_.'' growled Shadowdrift absently, returning his eyes ahead.

Toothless had shown him around the island all day. He had to say, the place was nice. The buildings were neat and similar at those back home and the humans around were completely different from what he'd been told in Pyrrhia. It seemed safe, but it wasn't where he belonged.

The Night Fury joined his side, burbling quietly as his green eyes followed the NightWing's gaze on the infinite world. He sat down, his thoughts similar to his new friend's. He too was out here on his own, with no other dragon like him to relate to. He might as well be the last of his kind. For a moment, the Night Fury and the NightWing shared a mutual feeling of loneliness at they focused on the line cutting the water and sky, too lost in thoughts regarding the past to share a single growl.

Light footsteps kept company by a _click_ had Toothless lift an ear up at his rider's approach. The Night Fury twisted his head around and his body followed the movement to join up with Hiccup who stood at the entrance of his hut.

''This does look like a great night for a moonlit flight, doesn't it, bud?'' asked Hiccup as he held his dragon's large head between his gentle hands. Toothless shifted his gaze to the NightWing and gave an inviting growl. Hiccup understood in the instant and made a gesture of his hand to the newcomer. ''Why don't you come with us?''

Shadowdrift looked up to the perfect night sky, his dark eyes reflecting the big white moon and with no hesitation, let himself drop down the platform and spread in wings wide. The cool breeze carried him up and when he looked back to see if the duo was following, Hiccup and Toothless were right behind him, a smile printed on the rider's face.

 _Maybe this will do me good,_ thought Shadowdrift and he flew side by side with Hiccup and Toothless while circling the island. In that moment, Shadowdrift didn't feel alone at all and beat his wings that seemed invisible against the background. He shut his eyes tight and let himself drop lower, letting his claws graze a few leaves from the trees of Dragon's Edge. An alarming whistling noise caught his attention and he looked behind to see the black figure dive-bombing at him and spread its massive wings at the last moment to dash ahead. Shadowdrift looked at the duo now flying in front of his in amazement and worked to catch up. He'd never seen anything like it, just like when Hiccup had discovered the night sky pasted inside his wings. They both had a unique ability and Shadowdrift wondered what more this mysterious world held back.

* * *

 **Please don't tell me this story has been forgotten by its followers! Let me know who's still there!**

 **Next chapter on its way!**


	7. Chapter 7

Snotlout and Hookfang soared across the night sky on their patrol, looking out boringly at their surrounding in case any Dragon Hunter fleet was dumb enough to tread into Dragon's Edge's waters. Snotlout yawned and allowed his eyelids to slide shut, but his Monstrous Nightmare refused to make his task easy and lit his body with hot flames. Snotlout yelped and jumped awake, glaring at his dragon crossly.

''You do that every single time!'' complained Snotlout, holding his helmet from falling over his eyes. ''Doesn't it get boring?''

Hookfang denied with a growl, holding his rider's gaze with mocking eyes.

''There's nothing out here, anyway.'' said Snotlout, crossing his arms as he scanned around one last time. ''Let's head home, Hooky!''

The flames licking the dragon's scales were a dazzling sun against the ink-blue sky of night and blinded by the close brightness, the dragon and rider never saw the fleet up ahead sailing in the dead of night. A whistle caught their attention just in time as a dragon root arrow flew straight at them. Snotlout shrieked in alarm and used his helmet as protection against the sharp end. It hit the metal, having it come to a pathetic stop and after a brief recovery; he directed his fire coated Nightmare towards the ships, clumsily avoiding their arrows.

''Common, Hookfang!'' said Snotlout while leaning down against his dragon's horns. ''Blast it!''

Hunters scattered as the lava hit the side of the ship, sending it rocking madly.

''This must be a returning convoy.'' noted Snotlout as he acknowledged the direction the ships were going. ''They must have trapped dragons inside.''

Yells came from the other ships and Snotlout saw hunters reloading, already aiming at him and Hookfang. They managed to avoid yet another attack and Hookfang roared his fury at the Hunters.

''Not now, Hookfang.'' ordered Snotlout while patting his dragon's head. ''There are too many of them. We need to find Hiccup and report right away.''

The Monstrous Nightmare beat his wings to double back and shouts of triumph faded behind them.

…

Darklight could tell it was getting darker outside by the fading brightness coming from the cracks of the ceiling. Torches had been lit beneath deck, their flickering flames dancing free in front of the NightWing. Her gaze was locked to the fire, sharpening her taste to fly out of here every passing second.

Hours passed by and Darklight searched for opportunities to escape, but the guards were always walking in the center of the hallway. The winged creature in the cell in front of her that slightly looked like a RainWing with its exotic colors squawked angrily at the passing scavenger, and with a swift swing of its tail, dangerous spines whistled through the squares of the gate and plunged themselves in the opposite wall. Darklight jumped at they stuck to the wall outside her cell and returned her attention at the scene before her. The scavenger straightened up and pulled out a scavenger claw as it approached the dragon. Darklight stared wide-eyed as the dragon shrunk away at the weapon, looking very weak all suddenly. She'd already seen enough blood an death since she arrived here, she didn't want to witness this as well.

 _Do they have a queen here? I wonder who it might be and if I might be able to talk to her…_ she thought while her eyes fled from the scene.

Sudden shouts caught her attention and Darklight's ears shot up for familiar voices such as Shadowdrift's. Maybe he'd managed to track her down and find a way to get her out of here, but her hopes were drowned as a loud _BOOM!_ roared outside and the floating invention rocked wildly.

'' _Nope.''_ she growled quietly to herself. _''Definitely not Shadowdrift.''_

Smoke filled her nostrils and the NightWing covered her snout while coughing. A loud thud brought her attention at the gate of her cell and Darklight came face to face with the scavenger that had been about to hurt the dragon in front of her. She stayed stunned for a moment, studying the scavenger too close to her liking. But then her brown eyes drifted to the set of golden keys and Darklight refused to skip that opportunity.

'' _Yes!''_ she roared and snatched the ring from the guard that'd been thrown across the corridor by the rock caused by a mysterious explosion outside and held it firmly inside her palm.

She was glad she'd taken that shot when she had the chance for the scavenger recovered quickly and was back where he belonged as a guard. It seemed as if it had completely forgotten about the dragon that had shot spines at it and took place to the entrance while another took over the shift.

'' _Three Moons, if one thing stays true about scavengers, they really are squid-brains.''_ rumbled Darklight, but she pushed that remark away and studied the keys. '' _Alright, which one's the right one…''_

…

Shadowdrift sucked in a massive lung-full breath of fresh night air when Hiccup announced to return to the base. The NightWing silently thanked the rider and the dragon for this flight and followed them back to the Edge.

The night was calm. A soft breeze kissed his cheeks as he beat his beautiful wings after the Night Fury. He closed his eyes for only a moment, enjoying the softness of the moon's light on his black scales, until a loud distress call snapped him out of his comfort.

A bright spot of fire danced against the darkness of the night as if the sun had forgotten to go to sleep and Shadowdrift joined up with Toothless in case it meant danger. But to his disbelief, it was just another dragon with its rider.

'' _Huh, I have a question.''_ growled Shadowdrift as he hovered next to his friends with his eyes locked on the arriving duo. '' _How can a dragon be on fire and not die?''_

Of course, no one had understood him and he was perfectly aware of that. But he still had to put the question out there. The dragon was literally _on fire._ Tell him how's that possible. But the creature still flew as alive as Toothless and its rider didn't seem at all bothered by the flames surrounding him. The rider actually seemed more distraught by a haunting thought than terrified by the fire and Shadowdrift immediately suspected something wrong as did Hiccup and Toothless.

''Hiccup!'' called Snotlout while holding tight to Hookfang's horns. ''Thank Thor.''

''What happened?'' asked Hiccup, taking a stern expression.

''Dragon Hunters.'' replied Snotlout, pointing behind him. ''Returning convoy south from here.''

''Did you see if there were any dragons?'' asked Hiccup, concern at the edge of his tone.

''Well, with the flying arrows and bolas, I forgot to ask!'' cried out Snotlout, clearly panicked.

''Alright, calm down.'' ordered Hiccup with a gesture of his hand. ''How many ships?''

Snotlout took a moment to count on his fingers and showed his hand to his leader. ''Three.'' he answered. He recalled he'd attacked the leader ship and two had been following on its sides, which suggested it held the dragons they'd caught. This was a perfect chance to attack for Hiccup and Toothless, given the Night Fury's black coat.

''Okay, here's what we're gonna do.'' said Hiccup with a commanding tone. ''First, you're gonna put that fire out. Stealth is what it's all about and you're doing a terrible job.''

''I won't apologize for that!'' shouted Snotlout at Hiccup, but his leader only gave him a firm look of his eyes. Hookfang still let his flames die and received a glare from his rider.

''Second, show us where you found them.'' continued Hiccup, grabbing both handles of his saddle. ''We might only get one shot at this.''

Shadowdrift listened to their conversation inquiringly, his ears straight at every word.

 _Dragon Hunters?_ he thought, searching what this might mean. _Like those who killed Queen Oasis?_

He thought this was a safe place, but he was wrong. Danger was always there, whether you're looking or not and it had Shadowdrift want to find Darklight as soon as possible and find a way out of this world. He had to. He couldn't stand nightmares of Pyrrhia's history haunt him here as well.

But Hiccup's words asking about trapped dragons echoed in his mind and had him struggle between fight and flight.

''Hey, big guy?'' called Hiccup looking back at him, snapping him out of his troubled thoughts. ''Wanna help us save some dragons?''

Shadowdrift took a moment to consider and looked down at Toothless and suddenly pictured the Night Fury locked up without anybody to save him, dying of starvation and lack of fresh air in an underground dungeon just like in the stories of NightWing Island and the volcano. Would he save him if it were? Unable to answer the question, Shadowdrift looked up to Hiccup.

 _He would,_ was the only reply his mind threw back at him.

If this little scavenger was ready to fight to free dragons from those who killed them, then Shadowdrift was with him. Confidence suddenly flooded through him and the NightWing roared to the stars. Toothless roared back and shot after the Monstrous Nightmare.

* * *

 **This is going surprisingly well, if I'm being honest. I haven't read any Wings of Fire for a while, but I think I'm making a marvelous job if I do say so myself.**

 **Stay alive!**


	8. Chapter 8

Shadowdrift panted at the effort of chasing after the Night Fury and Monstrous Nightmare, his wings already sore from the previous exercise. But despite the pain making his body feel as rigid as a rod, he kept pushing through, motivated by Hiccup's determination.

''There!'' shouted Snotlout, gesturing at the birth of a fire in the middle of the ocean. Its warm light against black distinguished the two other ships around, proving Snotlout had been right.

''Snotlout!'' called Hiccup, bringing Toothless to a stop when he realized the size of the fire burning the lead ship. ''You don't know if there are dragons in there!''

''What?!'' shrieked Snotlout, leaning forward on Hookfang's horns. ''That wasn't me! I swear!''

''Oh, really?'' doubted Hiccup, glaring at the rider hovering by his side. ''Then who else? I'm sure the Hunters didn't just decide to set themselves on fire, now. So unless you prove me wrong—''

A furious roar coming from the fleet cut Hiccup off and all eyes snapped in direction of its source. A large shape moved on the deck and fired everything in its sight, lighting up the entire ship with no regard for the lives of these Hunters or dragons below.

''Uh, Hiccup?'' hesitated Snotlout, shrinking away at the strength in that cry.

''That sounded a lot like…'' said Hiccup, but he left his sentence incomplete when he gazed at Shadowdrift hovering close to them with his eyes locked on the fire up ahead.

Shadowdrift searched amongst the light and darkness for Darklight, but her black coat gave nearly nothing away. Desperate, he called her name. But it seemed like the raging flames were louder than his cry and without thinking of what he was doing, he charged into danger to find her.

''Wait!'' called Hiccup, alarmed. He reached out a hand to the dragon, but anything he might say would be shut out. ''Big guy!''

Toothless roared after the NightWing and exchanged a glance with his rider. With the authorization, he flew after him with great wing beats in hope to stop him before he was brought down by Ryker and his Hunters.

…

Snotlout had just pulled on Hookfang's horns to double back and report to Hiccup with the shouts of triumph fading behind them.

Ryker growled low as he watched the Monstrous Nightmare disappear in the darkness of the night. The dragons below roared in alarm at the attack and he could hear them thrashing around in their cells, trying to break free.

''Look at them!'' shouted a hunter, gesturing loosely at the fleeing dragon and rider. ''They're running scared!''

Ryker narrowed his eyes at his soldier at grabbed the man by the throat. With his feet off the ground, the hunter looked less amused and stared in his leader's eyes, fright like a cloud hovering over him.

''They're heading back to report, you idiot!'' said Ryker, balling his free hand into a fist. ''It was a patrol. Now get those weapons ready and prepare for some undesired guests.''

Ryker let the man go roughly and was about to go check on the new dragon below deck only to have that said dragon breaking through the door violently.

Darklight roared fiercely, her jaws parted to reveal the rows of teeth. Saliva flew out and stuck at the nearest scavengers that stayed there stunned for a moment. Before any of them could grab a crossbow, the NightWing had their head torn off their body and flung overboard.

She was about sick of this place and refused to stop at any obstacle. She'd get through it, no matter the cost. She'd get back to Shadowdrift and they'd be safe back home in no time.

She inhaled a mighty breath, and released it in hot flames, burning this wooden thing and the scavengers with it. She was aware of the dragons beneath deck, but she couldn't care less for those wild animals. She was getting out of here tonight.

The flames licked the mast and floorboards hungrily while Ryker glared at the NightWing angrily. He wasn't going to let this beast lead his ship to ruins without a fight. His crew had been reduced to a weak number and he refused to disappoint his brother because of this one and single beast. He had to get it back to Viggo.

Darklight beat her wings to climb up to the top of the pole in the middle of the deck and dug her claws in its wood while gazing down at the campfire she thought was beautiful.

'' _These creatures better not come at me again or they'll know what real pain feels like.'' s_ he rumbled, her dark eyes reflecting the bright flames below.

'' _I don't think you know the actual meaning of 'pain'. You practically killed them all.''_ called a familiar voice that had Darklight's spirit lift in an instant.

'' _Shadowdrift!''_ she was overjoyed to see him, her eyes watery from happiness. Her friend came to a stop a little higher, looking down at her with relief clear in his movements. _''You're alive!''_

'' _Looks like it.''_ commented Shadowdrift, checking himself over.

Toothless and Hookfang approached the burning ship where Shadowdrift hovered over Darklight. The female NightWing's eyes snapped wide at the approaching dragons ridden by scavengers and she immediately widened her wings for takeoff.

'' _Shadowdrift, look out!''_ she bellowed and charged after the two Riders.

She inhaled and let her flames pour out from her parted jaws, forcing the Night Fury and Monstrous Nightmare to break apart to avoid a different fate.

''Whoa, Toothless!'' shouted Hiccup, regaining his balance while his Night Fury roared at the new dragon. It was extremely similar to their new friend, but with a very bad temper. ''It must be agitated. Try to stay calm, bud.''

'' _Since when can scavengers talk?!''_ roared Darklight, standing in front of Shadowdrift in attempt to protect it. She'd seen enough madness around here and demanded answers.

''Hiccup!'' called Snotlout, holding tight for any sudden moves from his dragon. ''This thing is insane!''

'' _Darklight, don't!''_ cried out Shadowdrift when she tried to fire at them again. _''These guys are different! They're my friends.''_

'' _FRIENDS?!''_ bellowed Darklight. Shadowdrift could clearly see that she'd lived different than what he had since their arrival to this strange land. But he had to make her understand that these humans weren't the bad guys.

'' _Just, listen to me.''_ he pleaded, reaching out a paw to Darklight that struggled between attacking again or listening to her best friend.

Ever since he knew Darklight, he'd always been submitted to her, in a way that he'd always follow her wherever she liked and do as she wanted whether he liked it or not. The way they ended up into this mess in the first place was a great example. But he'd be standing his ground this time.

''Fire!'' came a yell from below and before any of them could identify its source, a net flew straight at them. The four dragons hovering above the flames parted to avoid it and Hiccup narrowed his eyes at the fleet.

''Alright,'' he raised his voice, cutting the two NightWings' discussion. ''It all seems very interesting what you two are saying, but we got a dragon-rescue mission on our hands.'' His emerald green eyes landed on the burning ship under their wings, the shrieks of the trapped dragons loud enough to reach them.

''Ok, I'm not so sure who's insane, now!'' commented Snotlout, watching his leader as he studied the ship intensely. ''Hiccup, you can't seriously be thinking about going in there?''

As if the blaze was replying, an explosion rocked the ship, the fire still licking every inch of wood hungrily. Toothless looked up at his rider, moaning. He too wasn't certain whether it was worth their lives to save those dragons. But when Hiccup decided on something, he went through with it all the way.

''Let's go, bud.'' ordered Hiccup, ignoring Snotlout's concern and dashed in the heart of this red hell. The other ships had parted from the lead ship and continued on their course back to Dragon Hunter Island. There was no doubt that Ryker had managed to get aboard one of the other ships and was leading them away while the Dragon Riders dealt with this mess.

Toothless hovered above the flames, kicking into empty at the sudden blast of heat. ''We gotta get in there, Toothless!'' yelled Hiccup over the roaring flames. The entrance leading down below deck lay right before their eyes, behind a wall of blaze. ''Go, bud!''

Toothless did as ordered and shut his eyes as he dived through the fire to reach inside. The air was thick with smoke that made it barely visible. Hiccup coughed loudly, placing his arm before his face to try to clear the grey cloud without success.

''We gotta hurry, bud.'' he said, not so sure if he was talking to himself or his dragon. But these dragons needed saving, and saving them they shall.

* * *

 **Hiccup has to be the hero, again... I wonder how he's survived this long. Would you?**

 **Anyways, I'm surprised of the weak number of reviews from last chapter, did you guys notice I updated? I found it quite strange, to be honest. But I'm publishing once again. I'm not sure where I'm going with this story so I'm kinda inventing as I go along.**

 **'Till next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

Hiccup coughed hard in a hand balled into a fist placed before his mouth. It was barely breathable in here, so he had to hurry and free these dragons before he ran out of air completely. Toothless whined his concern for his rider, the smoke entering his lungs as well. Without wasting any time, the Rider hopped to stand on the saddle and reached up to the first chain hanging from the ceiling that controlled the opening and closing of the gates. Toothless knew what to do and when he felt his rider balanced, he bounced and Hiccup grasped the chain that flung both gates at his sides wide. They did the same all the way down the hall, and the dragons that used to be locked in these cells ran for their lives for the exit.

When the last chain was tugged, Hiccup landed back down heavily on the saddle. At the contact with the leather, his bad leg gave away from the lack of strength in his body and he crashed on the floor without any resistance.

Toothless roared at Hiccup, nudging him gently to get back up. ''I'm okay, Toothless…'' said Hiccup, but it barely came out as a whisper. He reached out a hand to reassure his dragon. ''We need to get out of here now.''

Hiccup picked himself up with difficulty, hardly able to stand any longer. He leaned against the Night Fury, his legs quivering at his weight. He clutched the saddle; his eyes tight shut at the smoke with his breathing becoming harder every passing second. He blinked his eyes multiple times to clear his sight but the grey surrounding him was becoming darker until it faded to black completely and felt his body slam against the ground once again.

…

''Comm _on,_ Hookfang!'' shouted Snotlout, holding his dragon's horns tightly as he thrashed his head around. ''Hiccup needs us!'' But the Monstrous Nightmare refused to do as ordered and enter the raging flames from the ship. Dragons poured out from beneath deck and disappeared into the night, saved by their leader.

'' _I can't believe this squid-brain of a scavenger went in there.''_ commented Darklight, eyeing the ship with wide eyes. _''It'll die.''_

'' _Yeah, I've noticed.''_ growled Shadowdrift, finding himself worrying for Hiccup's and Toothless' safety. _''But we gotta do something!''_

'' _And risk everything?''_ exclaimed Darklight, turning her gaze to her friend. _''No thank you!''_

'' _You're the one who's always up for some danger.''_ stated Shadowdrift, having a hard time to believe that this adventurous dragon who'd disobeyed the most important rule as not to go through the tunnel refused to stand up for this.

'' _Scavengers are monsters, Shadow!''_ roared Darklight, her ears folding back with watery eyes. _''You should know with all that reading of yours!''_

'' _This scavenger saved my life!''_ roared back Shadowdrift. This was the first time he'd yelled at Darklight, and he could tell she was taken aback. Her mighty neck folded back slightly and her eyes took a shade of hurt. But Shadowdrift had to stand for himself; he had to stand for Hiccup. His eyes fled from Darklight's and into the rage of the fire. _''And now I'm going to save his.''_

Without waiting for a respond, the NightWing – darker than the night sky – dived down to the ship with the fading _''Shadow, wait!''_ of Darklight. He couldn't stand there and watch as the fire devoured the ship and Hiccup and Toothless with it. He had to do something about it, or at least try.

He slowed to a stop with his wings outstretched wide and studied to structure fearfully.

 _What if I don't make it in time?_ he wondered, trying to find a way in other than the same entrance as they'd borrowed. There had to be another way around than through the fire. His scales would melt to the skin.

A sudden loud _CRACK!_ rang from the highest point of the ship and Shadowdrift watched as it collapsed on itself. His stomach tightened when he thought about the dragon and rider still under there. But it didn't take long and rapid shooting sounds exploded in purple blasts in that smoky spot and he heard the desperate cry of the Night Fury.

'' _Toothless!''_ called Shadowdrift, trying to get as close as his will allowed him. The tip of his tail dangled close to the heat and he beat his wings to climb a little higher, out of the fire's reach. He then returned his attention to the black dragon stuck below somewhere.

The movement of gigantic black wings caught his attention from the grey and the form of the dragon appeared.

'' _Yes!''_ he cheered, lighting up a little bit. Maybe they'd make it after all. As if the ship had heard his silent thought, a deep alarming noise howled and Shadowdrift watched as the ship nosedived slowly. _''Oh, no no no!''_

He heard Toothless roar again, begging for a rescue while he stood over his rider for protection against the previous debris. The Night Fury summoned as much of his fire left and released it into a massive plasma blast that reached high into the night sky and exploded with an intimidating loud _BOOM!._ Its colors stretched far around it and the blast echoed like thunder all around them.

Shadowdrift wasn't so sure why he'd done this. All he knew was that he couldn't give up. It seemed as if the Night Fury's scales could resist much heat, but his NightWing ones couldn't. He couldn't just swoop in and grab them both. It was impossible for him to carry them back to Dragon's Edge in addition. They needed Toothless to fly, but from what the dragon had shown him back at the Edge earlier, the Night Fury could only do so with Hiccup. He had this prosthetic tail that needed controlling from the saddle, and clearly that was impossible right now with the Rider unconscious.

Thinking this through with his racing heart working against him, Shadowdrift dropped down besides Toothless, the heat surrounding them burning his back. Shadowdrift winced at the unbearable pain, but refused to reach the safety of the coolness of the stars.

Toothless growled in protest and gestured with his head to leave, but Shadowdrift replied with a shake of his head. The NightWing reached underneath the Night Fury and grabbed the limp Rider lying on his back with an arm resting on his belly by the collar. He pulled him out like a cat with her kitten and with a nod to Toothless; he beat his wings to the sky, Hiccup's life between his jaws.

Toothless' bright green eyes disappeared as he flew higher. Shadowdrift's throat tightened and his eyes watered. Everything felt slow motioned as he gained distance with the only dragon he trusted as much as his own kind, the deep whines fading as he left Toothless behind. He wasn't sure want would happen next, but at least Hiccup, the little scavenger that'd saved his life, was safe.

…

A loud explosion in the distant had Stormfly's yellow eyes blink open. The Deadly Nadder felt an uneasy atmosphere as she gazed into the distance, quiet growls escaping her mouth. She watched as a purple circle in the sky stretched almost till Dragon's Edge and disapeared slowly against the black background. In that moment she knew Toothless was in trouble.

Without wasting more time, she rose to her mighty feet and poked her head in her rider's hut from the door. She released an alarming squawk that had Astrid spring from her bed, axe at hand that she'd pulled from under her pillow. Astrid's hair was tangled and she seemed as alarmed as if she'd been awake for a while. She looked at Stormfly, her aggressive look turning to concern.

''What is it, girl?'' demanded Astrid, her bright blue eyes searching her dragon for an explanation of her waking. ''Is everything alright?''

As a reply, the Nadder roared and nodded at the horizon, beating her wings gently. She knew her rider would understand immediately and leaned closer to the ground for her to mount up. The blue dragon stood on the edge of the platform when Astrid had hopped on and roared loudly to inform the rest of the dragons and Riders. And in a heartbeat, they were in the sky.


	10. Chapter 10

**Apologies for the wait (again). I'm guessing it's gonna be this way for the rest of this story...**

* * *

Hiccup blinked his eyes at the sting from the smoke. The air was hard to breathe, but he fought to be updated on what was happening anyway.

''Toothless,'' he whispered, unconsciously struggling against the dragon that saved him from the fire down below. He clumsily reached his hands to his collar between the night dragon's jaws, attempting to free himself from him. ''Toothless, he… he's down there.'' His words gave away his exhaustion, and Shadowdrift still couldn't believe this little human had almost killed himself to save dragons.

Shadowdrift's ears folded back as a knot caught in his throat. Hiccup really loved that dragon, and the NightWing felt ashamed to be unable to save the Night Fury as well. It was almost like leaving a friend behind. Scratch that. That was exactly what it was.

Toothless looked up at his rider, saved by the NightWing, and wailed back at them. His green eyes reflected the flames licking at the wood around him, his pupils only a black scratch against the toxic color. There was nowhere to go. Not up, not down. He was a prisoner of this sinking red hell. At least Hiccup got out of this. Toothless could take the heat, but not the water. He wasn't a great swimmer, to be honest. The only times he entered the endless blue was either if his best friend was in danger or for training. He'd drown without someone to control his tail or to carry him in the air. He just hoped his distress call had woken up one of the dragons back on the Edge and that help would be arriving soon.

…

Stormfly sped above the ocean's wild waves, her nasal horn cutting straight through the wind trying to slow them down. But the Deadly Nadder's determination was way more powerful, especially combined with her rider's. Astrid's eyes were closed to slits while her bangs were pushed back.

''Common, girl.'' she squeezed her saddle's handles tight, her blue eyes searching for action. ''We need to find them, quick.''

Stormfly exchanged a gaze with her rider and squawked in reply, accelerating even more.

''Common, common. Where are you?'' said Astrid, scanning the horizon. The sky was pitch-black, but she knew it would start turning pale soon. And so before the sun rose and blinded her, the young warrior focused harder on spotting the source of the distress call. ''Stormfly, higher!''

The Nadder did as told on the spot and climbed higher in the sky. She regained her constant speed quickly, making it easy for Astrid to focus on searching. A hand before her face for protection against the wild wind, Astrid's blue eyes reflected the bright flames of a distant burning ship. Even though they were quite far away, she could tell there wasn't much left of it. Stormfly squawked in alarm as she recognized Toothless' wails and exchanged a look with Astrid who replied, ''It's them, alright! Good job, Stormfly.''

…

There was poorly left to the ship and Toothless tried several times to climb up, only to fail every time. There wasn't much time left now.

''No! Let me go!'' cried out Hiccup, struggling against the NightWing who could only pull back his head to avoid the human's fists trying to reach his snout. ''Just drop me!''

 _I'm trying to save you!_ was all the dragon could think while holding him by the back of his shirt.

''We'll never get him out of there, Hiccup!'' said Snotlout, worry painted all over his face as well. ''We can feel the heat from up here, how do you think you'll manage to get close to him without, oh, I don't know, being roasted alive?!''

''But we can't just leave him there!'' said Hiccup, swinging his legs to Snotlout. ''He'll die!''

Snotlout returned his eyes on the Night Fury below and exchanged a look with Hookfang. What if it was his dragon down there? Would he be willing to enter these red-hot flames to save him?

Snotlout inhaled and stroke Hookfang's horns. ''Ok, Hooky,'' said Snotlout, loud enough for them both only. ''It's you and me.'' The Viking grabbed both horns and prepared to fly down there and save Toothless, but just as he was about to swing into the momentum, blue spines flew right before him, preventing him from reaching down there.

''Don't even think about it!'' came Astrid's voice as Snotlout looked over his shoulder to see Astrid coming in hot on Stormfly.

''Astrid!'' cried out Snotlout, which came out more shocked than intended. ''How did you—'' But the girl was already speeding past him for the ship. ''Right. Nevermind.''

Toothless paid attention as the Nadder swooped down, massive claws extended and waited for them to close around his form. The rough-scaled inside of Stormfly's feet made contact with the Night Fury's smooth black ones and carried them away from the ship. Toothless watched wide-eyed as the rest of what was left was blasted to pieces by one final explosion that put an end to the lead ship. Toothless looked up at Stormfly, wings dangling from each side of him, and softly growled in thanks.

''Toothless!'' called Hiccup, still dangling loosely from the dragon's grasp on his collar. The Night Fury was carried beneath him and Shadowdrift judged it was now alright to let go of him. The Dragon Rider's leg clicked right into place as he was dropped, sending the tailfin spreading wide, finally allowing Toothless to fly once again. Hiccup sighed his relief loudly, scratching his best friend's head fiercely. ''Thank God you're okay, bud. I really thought I was losing you back there.''

''Yeah, what were you thinking, exactly?'' demanded Astrid, clearly upset she'd had to save their butts in the middle of the night. ''You better have a good explanation, Hiccup Haddock, or else.'' As she spoke, the rest of the Riders showed up behind her, confusion painted all over their faces.

''He wasn't thinking, Astrid,'' replied Snotlout, attempting to look very serious and mature while making gestures of a hand at their leader who only glared back at him in annoyance. ''Hiccup just had to save those dragons. Hiccup the hero!''

'' _Save dragons?''_ echoed Darklight a short distance away. The female NightWing looked at her friend hovering next to her in confusion at the scavengers' words.

But Shadowdrift didn't look even slightly surprised and only commented, _''You'd be surprised.''_

Darklight narrowed her eyes at him, a feeling in her stomach that suggested he knew more than he was telling. She returned her brown eyes edged of her silver scales on the scavengers on the back of dragons, and wondered if Shadowdrift was right after all.


	11. Chapter 11

It was dawn by the time the Dragon Riders and the NightWings made it back to Dragon's Edge. The night had been long and everyone was pretty tired. Shadowdrift's neck ached as much as his wings from flying nearly all night. He'd never felt so stiff his entire life. Not even his first flight to arrive here had been this cruel. He supposed Darklight felt the same by watching her fly below his wings, her flight position obvious that she was exhausted just as much.

The group aimed for the soft patch of grass next to the Training Arena and nearly every dragon landed heavily, their legs barely supporting their bodies anymore. Darklight grunted as her paws met the ground, wincing as her aching muscles burned at her mighty neck. Shadowdrift landed beside her, regaining his balance when she folded back his wings.

'' _You feeling okay?''_ he asked, searching her expression that only revealed pain.

'' _I'll live.''_ she replied quickly, shifting her eyes on the Vikings as they dismounted their dragons.

Two very similar little scavengers hopped down a green two-headed beast that had necks of snakes and approached the two NightWings, hand to their chin.

''You know what we forgot to do?'' said Tuffnut, waving his hand at the darkest of the two.

''What's that?'' asked Fishlegs, an edge of annoyance noticeable in his question.

''We never _named_ these funny dragons.'' replied Ruffnut, reaching a hand to her hip. ''Isn't that the first thing we do when we discover new dragons?''

The three Riders turned to Hiccup for ideas, but they were way out of his earshot. Their leader was walking carefully up to the Clubhouse with an arm wrapped around Astrid's shoulders for support. There was no doubt he felt stiff after what happened during the patrol.

''Guess you'll have to wait 'till Hiccup feels better.'' said Fishlegs, shrugging carelessly at the twins. He placed a hand on his Gronckle's cheek and walked off to his hut.

''Well, sister,'' said Tuffnut, watching their only remaining smart-brained friend leave. ''It looks like this one's up to us.''

'' _What's going on?''_ demanded Darklight, folding back her ears with her neck arched backward.

''Alright, let's see…'' started Ruffnut, tapping her lips with a finger as she searched the ground for ideas. ''What about—''

''I know!'' interrupted Tuffnut, throwing his hands to the air. ''What about we call them _Night Furies?''_

''Bro, that name's already taken!'' said Ruffnut harshly, gesturing to Toothless watching from the Clubhouse above their heads. The dragon growled in boredom, rolling his eyes.

'' _Right.''_ He said, his eyes trailing from the Night Fury to the two NightWings. ''Wait! What do you think of Night Wraths?''

Ruffnut crossed her arms and glared at him. ''Really? I thought better of you.'' she simply said. ''Zero imagination skill. Gosh.''

''Not even Night Rages?''

Ruffnut shook her head.

''Night Angers? Night displeasures?'' he tried, but only received disappointed looks from his sister. ''Oh, common, woman! Not even Night Madness's?''

'' _I've had enough of this.''_ growled Darklight, her patience wearing thin. Her teeth showed as she narrowed her eyes at the two bickering scavengers. What were two annoying scavengers worth anyway? Without even hesitating for what Shadowdrift had to say, she inhaled a mighty breath and was about to blow her hot flames on the scavengers when Shadowdrift slammed into her side, knocking the air she'd gathered from her lungs. Fire blew out of her mouth and nostrils while she met the ground, Shadowdrift's talons pressing down on her ribs heavily.

The female NightWing looked at her friend in shock. _''What are you_ doing?!'' she demanded, pushing him off with new strength as adrenaline spread through her body. Her eyes wild, she stood breathing hard before Shadowdrift who held her stare challengingly.

'' _I can't believe you were about to roast them alive!''_ accused Shadowdrift, clearly upset she still didn't trust him when he said these humans were his friends.

'' _What are two annoying scavengers in less to this world anyway, huh?''_ she growled loudly, thrusting her muzzle at him. They had never fought like this before, but neither of them took time to think how much their friendship was changing throughout this journey. Darklight wanted to kill these scavengers, but Shadowdrift wouldn't let her. Not on his watch.

'' _You don't understand!''_ roared Shadowdrift as they circled each other. Before he could add more, the female NightWing jumped onto him, pinning him to the ground with a sickening thud. Shadowdrift's horns hit down hard, dazzling him for a brief moment.

''Dragon fight!'' cheered Tuffnut, punching his fists to the air in excitement. ''Finally some action!''

'' _Cool!''_ added Ruffnut, watching the two NightWings roll on top of each other across the patch of grass.

Shadowdrift dug his claws into Darklight's shoulders once on top again, causing her to bellow in agony. _''Will you just listen to me?''_ he demanded, but his friend shoved him off with her hind legs to his belly. Shadowdrift beat his wings to climb up above her while she staggered to her feet and looked up at him through narrowed eyes. _''This isn't home, Darklight! We can't do as we please!''_

When he saw her soften her glare on him, Shadowdrift slowly lowered himself back down.

'' _These guys aren't like those in Pyrrhia.''_ said Shadowdrift, approaching his friend as she slowly relaxed to the tone he was using. _''You can already tell. They have feelings, just like you and me. They understand and want to help us.''_

'' _How are you so sure?''_ asked Darklight, her voice cracking as she dropped her eyes to the wrecked ground from their fight.

Shadowdrift left his dark eyes lying on her dark scales, searching for the right answer. But his mind was blank when he summoned the confirmation that these humans really wanted to help them. He recalled the first time he met Hiccup. He had his tail stuck underneath a pile of boulders back on that desert island. He remembered every detail when he told him he wasn't there to harm him.

'' _We can help you get out of here if you let us.''_ had said Hiccup. The words echoed in Shadowdrift's mind until he spoke again.

'' _I just know.''_ he replied, his eyes focused into empty.

…

Hiccup sat on a crate he'd pulled from the pile in the corner of the Clubhouse while Astrid cleaned his burns on his shoulders from when he passed out on the ship set aflame. His skin was cooked as if someone had peeled the first layer of skin off his back. Every time the young warrior pressed the ice-cold cloth on the wounds, Hiccup would wince loudly; his muscles tensing instantly.

''Hiccup, would you just relax?'' said Astrid, bathing the cloth once again into the bucket.

''Sorry.'' he apologized, leaning his elbows against his knees. His armor and tunic had been taken off to reveal the number of wounds, but the burns only focused on the base of his neck and shoulders. ''It just really hurts. OW! Astrid!''

Astrid slapped the piece of wet cloth onto his back, smiling to herself in satisfaction of his complaint. ''That'll teach you not to go inside blazing ships. What were you thinking? You could've gotten yourself killed.'' she said, obviously upset her leader had taken such measures to save those dragons.

Hiccup sighed, not daring meet her eyes. ''You heard Snotlout.'' he simply replied.

The rest of the Riders walked in the Clubhouse; Snotlout grabbed himself a chair and Fishlegs came to his leader's side. The twins rushed in, excitement coming off them in waves.

''You people missed the most awesome dragon fight in history!'' declared Tuffnut, making the shape of a rainbow with his outstretched arms.

''No one cares, you two!'' snapped Snotlout at them both. The twins looked at Snotlout as if shocked, hurt in their eyes.

''Hey, Hiccup,'' said Fishlegs and Hiccup angled his head to see his friend standing next to him. ''Did you notice anything particular about this Dragon Hunter fleet while you were..?''

''Saving those dragons?'' said Astrid, shifting her eyes on Hiccup who only held her stare in annoyance. ''Yeah, I'm sure he remembers. Especially after passing out while doing so.''

Snotlout, leaning against a chair with his feet against the circle table laughed to himself suddenly. ''Ah, and the Hiccup gets a taste of his own medicine.'' he said to himself, reaching his arms to the back of his head for comfort. It was as if he'd finally gotten what he'd wished for so long and could now finally rest peacefully. But Ruffnut wouldn't allow after he'd snapped at them about the dragon fight and kicked one of the chair's feet, sending the Rider to the ground with a yelp.

Hiccup shook his head in discouragement and returned to Fishlegs. ''To be honest Fishlegs, Ryker's men seem to be holding more dragons every time we intercept them.'' he said while Astrid put away the bucket, indicating she was done treating his wounds. ''I'm starting to worry there's something we're not seeing.''

''You think it might have something to do with the Dragon Eye?'' asked Astrid, leaning against the table's edge.

''How?'' said Hiccup, looking at her intensely. ''Viggo doesn't have the key.''

''One reason or the other, we need to stop Viggo and his psychopaths of Hunters before Hiccup gets killed obsessing over saving every dragon in and outside the Archipelago.'' stated Snotlout, snatching his helmet from the twins who'd been getting back at him.

''Ok, Snotlout,'' said Hiccup flatly, locking his tired eyes with his. ''What do you suggest?''

''Whoa, n-no no.'' stammered Snotlout, placing both hands before him and his leader. ''You're the bright head here, figure that out. I won't be doing all your work, princess.'' Without another word, he walked out of the Clubhouse and shrieked as he came face to face with the two NightWings who'd been peering inside for a while now.

''We also need to figure out where these guys came from.'' added Astrid, gesturing to the two black dragons standing outside. It was obvious now that one was a male and the other a female. The male was much darker; his figures barely distinctive from one another.

''Where did you say you found them, Hiccup?'' asked Fishlegs, studying the new dragons with his eyes as if he hadn't already.

''Astrid and I found this one on the Isle of Night.'' Hiccup gestured at Shadowdrift who lifted his head at his mention. ''And the female appeared setting the whole ship aflame.''

Darklight's ears folded back after a while of listening. Even though she'd been around this world for a while now, she still felt uneasy to be able to understand scavengers. There was something unsettling about it. Not to mention what they were saying - something about hunters capturing dragons.

'' _What are they talking about?''_ asked Darklight, shifting her eyes on her friend. They kept low enough not to draw all the attention on them while the Riders talked.

'' _It seems like they have enemies.''_ replied Shadowdrift, attentive to the humans' conversation.

'' _Scavengers have enemies?''_ said Darklight in astonishment. Back home, they were like little pests who seemed to mind their own most of the time. Unless, of course, they attacked dragons and killed them for their treasures… _''You think they're other dragons?''_

'' _For starters, they're humans.''_ stated Shadowdrift, dragging his gaze on her. _''And no, I think they're talking about others like them.''_

Darklight recalled the human that seemed to be the leader of the group that had captured her not long after she'd arrived. They seemed really bad, the way they locked her up and treated her. She could see the difference between them and these humans now that she thought about it.

'' _There was this big ugly one that captured me.''_ said Darklight, remembering how he had looked down at her. His dark brown eyes had sent chills down her spine. _''You think he might be it?''_

Shadowdrift looked thoughtful for a moment. _''It's not impossible.''_ he said simply.

'' _I hope so.''_ said Darklight, and edge of excitement to her voice. _''That way I can get back at it and snatch its head off.''_

Shadowdrift looked at her with huge eyes as if she'd grown another head. _''Whoa, Darklight! When did you become so hostile?''_ he asked, his tone lowering as he leaned his head closer.

'' _May I remind you that I was locked up by these disgusting little beasts who treated me like an animal.''_ she said, her sentence ending into a low growl with bared teeth. _''Not to mention we're stuck in this unknown land might make me a little_ weird _.''_

'' _Alright, keep your scales on.''_ whispered Shadowdrift after she'd almost roared the words out.

Darklight gave her friend a stern look but Shadowdrift never noticed for he returned his attention on the activity inside. Lowering her head, she turned around and walked away, her heart feeling desperately heavy in her chest.

'' _Darklight?''_ called Shadowdrift curiously as he watched her leave slowly, swaying left to right with her wingtips grazing the floorboards. _''Where are you going?''_ The male NightWing hopped to her side as she heavily twisted her neck to face him. Shadowdrift wore a mask of concern as he met her watering eyes, confused of her sudden change of mood.

'' _Everything's changed, Shadow.''_ as she spoke, her voice choked from the emotion, sending a knot to Shadowdrift's throat as well. She looked deeply into his eyes, wondering if she should confess how she felt. She swallowed hard and fled from his preoccupied gaze. _''Even you.''_

Shadowdrift swallowed hard, finding it hard to breathe suddenly. He felt terrible for Darklight and wondered how he'd managed to make her feel like this. He was hot with embarrassment for hurting her so much. They were supposed to be a team out here, but neither of them understood the other as well as they thought. Inhaling slowly, she continued.

'' _I miss my family, I miss home. I don't know if I'll ever see them again.''_ Unable to say more, Darklight broke into tears, the salty drops streaming against her scales and splashing against the wood at their feet. Shadowdrift extended his star-dotted wing and wrapped it around her for comfort, his chin resting between her horns.

Between sobs, her head against her best friend's chest, Darklight managed to let out a few more words. _''I'm scared.''_ she whispered, opening her eyes full of fright to the unknown future that laid out for them.

Shadowdrift sighed and shut his eyes, reopening them to gaze out across the vast land of water that stretched out before him imposingly.

'' _So am I.''_ he replied quietly, unable to figure out to whom he was telling so.

* * *

 **Whoa! This thing is going pretty well if you ask me. Believe it or not, I'm still writing this as I go. I have a couple ideas to make this epic and if you got some suggestions, I'm open.**

 **'Till next time,**

 **Rain**


	12. Chapter 12

The sky was bright blue and the sun's warm rays shone through the jungle leaves of the rainforest of Pyrrhia. Many noises echoed all around the RainWing village, sounds of hammering and wood thumping against wood. There was a lot of activity happening around. And some panic as well.

Two NightWings beat their wings above the trees of the vast forest they called home, their eyes wild as they landed on their queen's hut.

''Are you so sure we should disturb Queen Glory during her nap?'' asked Fierceclaw, Darklight's mother as she came to a stop, hovering above their leader's den. Her ears folded backwards, she gazed anxiously at Moondance, Shadowdrift's mother.

Moondance glared back at the NightWing, her protective side for her dragonet taking over her usual kindness towards her friend. ''Our children haven't been seen by anyone since the day they set out to play to the second stream, Fierceclaw!'' growled the NightWing, her teeth bared. ''I don't care if Queen Glory's sleeping; my son might be in danger.''

Fierceclaw didn't get the opportunity to reply and chased after Moondance as she dashed for the den below their wings. They landed on the platform before the entrance to their queen's hut where a NightWing was guarding the entrance.

''Hey, ladies.'' welcomed a handsome NightWing, sitting before the door, a spear between his talons. Despite the weapon, he acted as coolly as cool could go. ''What can I do for you?''

''We're here to talk to Queen Glory.'' said Moondance, which came out more as an order than a request.

Deathbringer winced, his ears folding back. ''Sorry, her majesty is sleeping at the moment.'' he informed, his claws tracing onto the spear's pole. ''Can I leave her a message?''

''No!'' roared Moondance, taking a step forward imposingly.

''Will you keep it down?'' whispered Deathbringer harshly at the NightWing, gazing at the door in alarm. ''You should know the Queen doesn't like to be disturbed at this time of the day. It's sunhigh, all RainWings bathe in the sun at this hour. You should know the rules.''

''Not the Queen, apparently.'' commented Moondance, her stern eyes locked with Deathbringer's.

''Please,'' pleaded Fierceclaw, positioning herself between Deathbringer and Moondance to avoid a conflict that would send them on their way back immediately. ''Our children have been missing for three days now and no one has seen or heard of them. You have to help us.''

Deathbringer looked at Fierceclaw intensely as if he was trying to figure out if this emergency was really worth waking up Queen Glory. After what felt like an eternity, the massive NightWing broke eye contact and sighed in defeat. ''Alright,'' he said, reaching for the door's handle. ''I'll see to her.''

''Thank you.'' thanked Fierceclaw, watching him shut the door as he entered the den.

...

''So where did they say there were going three days ago?'' asked Queen Glory, wide awake after getting her sleep disturbed for a case of missing NightWing dragonets. She hadn't seemed very happy at first, but when the two mothers explained how their children had been missing; the queen hadn't wasted a second to question them on their disappearance. Dragons had been missing before when the NightWing tribe captured RainWings to study their poison fangs ability. Queen Glory wouldn't let something like that happen again, not while she ruled these two tribes. She had the responsibility to protect the RainWings _and_ NightWings equally. Two missing dragonets was a serious case to her and she wouldn't let a minute pass without searching until these two NightWings were found again.

Fierceclaw and Moondance sat in the queen's den while Queen Glory gathered information concerning their daughter and son's missing case.

''They said something about going to the second stream.'' replied Moondance, calmer now that she was able to talk to her. She exchanged a look with Fierceclaw who shared her concern. ''On the other side of the RainWing village.''

''Mmh,'' thought Queen Glory, reaching her forepaw to her head as she searched. ''That's not so far from the animus tunnel.''

''You think they might have gone in there?'' wondered Deathbringer, standing next to his love, acting as a permanent guard to the RainWing.

''Wait, you really think my son would've broken the rule as to not go anywhere close to that cursed boulder?'' demanded Moondance, obviously outraged they'd accuse her dragonet of such thing.

''We don't have any evidence yet, Moondance.'' replied the queen calmly back to the overprotective mother. ''I know Shadowdrift's a good dragonet.'' She turned to Fierceclaw who looked desperate to get her daughter back. ''And so is Darklight. But your son is much influenced by this adventurous dragonet and it's not impossible that he might follow her onto dangerous grounds… or break the rules.''

The two mothers exchanged a look and returned to the queen.

''Deathbringer and I will investigate near the second stream and the tunnel. See what we can find.'' informed Queen Glory, raising to her feet and directing the NightWings towards the exit with her wings outstretched on either side.

''Thank you, Queen Glory.'' thanked Fierceclaw, bowing her head to her in respect. ''I hope you can help us find our dragonets.''

The RainWing Queen blinked in sympathy at them both. ''I hope as well.'' she replied and took off in direction of the animus tunnel that led to NightWing Island and in the desert of SandWing territory.

Deathbringer joined her, his wingtip brushing the queen's.

''I really hope they didn't really go in there.'' commented Deathbringer, concern in his eyes as he gazed up ahead.

''I just hope we find them safe and sound.'' said the RainWing, her stern look fixed on the sea of trees below her wings. ''Two dead NightWing dragonets wouldn't actually be the greatest thing to prove to those who believe I don't have my place to the throne that I'm fit to be queen.''

''However this turns out, you can trust me to stand by you.'' said Deathbringer, smiling warmly at Glory. However much she tried to brush it off, the RainWing Queen always found some reassurance from this handsome NightWing.

''Let's go find those dragonets.'' declared Glory, beating her wings to go faster and soon came the sound of a waterfall below them.

The two dragons dashed for the trees, tucking their wings to their sides and entered the vast sea of tangled tendrils and branches, huge green leaves casting shadows on the forest floor. The waterfall was just up ahead and they followed the noise until they stood paws in the mud surrounding the pool. Just a little higher lay the large boulder with a hole right through it, the one and single animus tunnel Queen Glory had forbidden to go through due to the dangers that lay on the other side.

''Glory, look.'' called Deathbringer who'd walked off to find some clues that might lie around.

The RainWing rushed to his side, looking at the paw prints marked in the juicy brown mud that clearly suggested two dragons had been here not so long ago.

''Well, they've been here.'' stated Glory, raising her eyes from the ground to the boulder. She trotted towards it, gingerly creeping forward when she was close. The NightWing approached from behind, breathing a plume of flame to light the entrance. It was pitch-black in there. They could barely see the walls stretching on both sides but where Deathbringer's fire reached. Glory sighed, hardly believing these two dragonets had crossed the tunnel. She could already tell by the scent clinging to the entrance. It was faint but confirmed they'd went in. ''I can't believe they defined my order. And I gave these two plenty of privileges..!''

''Don't worry, your majesty.'' reassured the NightWing, extinguishing his flame, sending the inside of the tunnel in complete darkness once again. ''They probably got lost on the other side or couldn't find their way back through the tunnel. You remember how hard it was to find the way out of this thing?''

''Don't remind me.'' said Glory, pushing back the horrible memories of being completely lost in that place where the world felt upside down.

Deathbringer took a step forward and twisted his neck to face the queen. ''You follow me, I'll lead the way.'' he said, and before she could argue, the NightWing breathed a plume of flame again and started crossing the animus tunnel.

They were going to find those lost dragonets, even if it meant revisiting the land of worst nightmares: NightWing Island.

* * *

 **I haven't read any Wings of Fire for a _really long time._ So if you have recently and spotted mistakes such as words that should've been used instead, bear with me. I just hope I wrote Glory and Deathbringer's relationship correctly. That's the way I remember it anyway. **

**Till next time, people!**

 **Rain**


	13. Chapter 13

Glory and Deathbringer exchanged a long look as they finally set talons on the scorched ground of this wrecked land. Piles of crumbled stones were everywhere to be seen, the atmosphere uneasy from the cast of the red-hot flowing lava on the thick black covering of the smoke above. No light could penetrate through those heavy layers, for sure. Queen Glory remembered evacuating NightWing Island like it was yesterday and she never believed to revisit this place again in all of her life. Even after so many times of wondering how those NightWings that she ruled today survived breathing this air, the question remained unanswered. She already missed the sounds of the jungle and she warm sunrays on her scales.

''I can't believe those dragonets dared come here,'' commented Deathbringer, his eyes scanning the smoky island. However hard he tried to see the horizon, there was no telling what was beyond that line of rising smoke as the lava flowed like a river, melting anything in its path.

''Well, if those dragonets managed to survive simply _breathing_ , they're in big trouble.'' declared Queen Glory, her scaly upper lip twitching in displeasure. Glory tried to keep a cool face, but her changing colors betrayed her fright. Yet, Deathbringer couldn't tell if it was for those two dragonets or just being here.

The two dragons spread their wings and took to what there was of a sky, soaring above the destructed island. Their wide eyes reflected the warm fires below while flinching at the acrid smell in the air.

''We need to hurry.'' said Deathbringer, reaching a paw to his mouth a coughing multiple times. It had been a long time since he'd breathed here.

''Agree.'' replied Glory, her breaths shallow. She let her gaze drift below her wings, her eyelids beginning to feel heavy when she suddenly spotted a bright light shining among a pile of crumbles. Her eyes snapped wide and she came to an abrupt stop. ''Wait! Deathbringer, look.''

Deathbringer doubled back immediately, looking down in confusion where his queen was pointing with a claw. ''I don't see—'' he began, but his dark eyes soon caught the brightness. ''Oh. How could've I missed that?''

The duo sped down and their paws met the stone covered of ashes. The NightWing shook one paw in disgust while Glory approached the brightness curiously. She circled it a couple times until she realized it was a large boulder pressing against the strange structure. The RainWing rose on her hind legs and pressed her front talons against the rock, trying to push it off with all her might. ''Deathbringer? A little help would be appreciated?'' she called while the NightWing was still brushing off the ashes off his paws annoyingly.

He looked up in surprise and rushed to his beloved one's side. ''Apologies,'' he whispered, and together they worked on removing the boulder in front of the mysterious creation.

''Is that—" began Glory, backing off slowly with huge eyes with the NightWing by her side.

''—a portal.'' confirmed Deathbringer, frowning confusingly. Little spirals danced on the bluish-white glowing curtain, its frame rectangular and as clean as if no active volcano hung about.

''How is this even possible?'' wondered Glory, her ear folded back and her scales shifting shades every now and then. ''And why is it active _now?''_

"I don't know.'' simply replied the NightWing, studying the structure in amaze. ''But one thing I do know, is that this portal is animus touched.''

''Yeah, no kidding.'' snapped Glory, her fear giving way to frustration.

''This is ancient.'' continued Deathbringer, approaching the portal until he was only inches away from the curtain. He raised a paw to touch it, and when he heard no rejection from his queen, he reached out through it and retrieved it fully with no damage visible on his black scales. He then turned to face Glory who wore a curious face. ''I'll bet my life that these young dragons went straight through that portal.''

''You think it leads somewhere else in Pyrrhia?'' asked Queen Glory, lifting up the NightWing's front leg to analyze it.

''I'm not sure,'' said Deathbringer, twisting his neck to look at the portal again. ''But it did feel different.''

''How different?''

"It was like my leg was in a different world.'' declared the NightWing, meeting his queen's gaze, their concern mutual.

…

The crowd mixed of NightWings and RainWings roared loudly at what Queen Glory had just confessed. Two NightWing dragonets have been missing for three days now and the queen and her personal guard had ventured to NightWing Island to track them down. But the search had ended when they discovered an active portal on the other side that left no doubt that the two young NightWings had crossed through. Glory and Deathbringer had tried to convince the mixed tribe that there was nothing to worry about, but they had clearly failed when shouts of protestations exploded all throughout the village.

''How could you let this happen?''

''What if they never come back?''

''Will we ever see our dragonets again?''

''You were supposed to protect them!''

Deathbringer sprang on a branch above every dragon's head and summoned a mighty roar that rang all around the clearing and silenced the crowd immediately as they all shrunk down at the intimating cry. Deathbringer nodded in satisfaction and hopped back down to the lightly elevated platform so that they were visible to every dragon's eyes.

''There, that should do it,'' said Deathbringer, pleased with himself as he regained his composure next to his beloved. ''All yours, your majesty.''

Queen Glory nodded and took a step forward, raising her voice. ''I know you think I've failed,'' she said, her strong voice reaching every NightWing and RainWing's ears. ''You're right, it is my fault if I left that tunnel unguarded when they went through. I take the blame. I will not accuse them of being too adventurous though. They _are_ dragonets. They wanna explore—see what's beyond that line. And that's why we send our dragonets to Jade Mountain Academy. And trust me, I will do what it takes to bring those two dragonets back.'' She glanced at the two mothers who stayed close, sharing their grief at learning that their children had been swallowed up in an animus touched portal that they had no idea where it led. Queen Glory felt determination stir inside of her and she locked her gaze with the two NightWing mothers. ''You may see me struggle, but I can tell you now, you'll never see me quit.''

The crowd began to grow a little bit louder as they shared a few comments and thoughts on what had just been said. Glory turned around to face Deathbringer who smiled proudly at her. ''Nice going,'' he whispered.

''Queen Glory!'' called a voice from the middle of the crowd and Glory approached the edge of the platform to hear what the young NightWing had to say. ''How do we know it's safe on the other side?''

''Yeah,'' called another voice. ''How will we return?''

''What do you mean 'we'?'' demanded Deathbringer, stretching his neck low with his ears forward.

''Those young NightWings are lost in an unknown land.'' came a new voice belonging to an older dragon. ''It's not only your duty to save them. It's also ours.''

Shouts of agreement supported the statement and queen and guard exchanged a look of disbelief. This was not what they had expected to happen. Never had Queen Glory imagined _her_ tribe to support her with a problem this major. Or anything, really.

''When do we leave?'' asked a RainWing in the front, his eyes full of determination.

The queen smiled and gazed across the crowd. She wasn't doing this alone after all.

* * *

 **Mmmmhh... can you guess what'll happen? mmh? MMH?**

 **'Till next time, dragonites!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hehe, so I've been away for a while, brainstorming _where_ is this story going. I got a conclusion, but I still have a gap to fill, so bear with the wait. Anyways, enjoy this chapter. Got another in the oven!**

* * *

The night was dark on the Isle of the Night. No green leaves could reflect the cool light of the moon from the bare trees. No grass blades ruffled in the fresh night breeze. The world was quiet, a sky full of stars shining above the rocks of the sad island. Yet, creatures moved. Some Terrible Terrors fled, screeching in alert as bigger dragons traveled on the hard stone, claws scratching against the ground the only existable sound. Blue light flashed from the shadows as one dragon after the other crossed from one world to the other, its colors like lighting striking without its thunder.

When all volunteered dragons had made it, a chain hit the ground with a dry _CLING!_ and a colorful, delicate set of talons grabbed on to it, tugging twice. When two other tugs were returned, the Queen of the NightWing and RainWing tribe turned to her followers, a stern mask covering her features.

Little creatures like dragons watched down on her, their yellow eyes with only a scratch making them look like animals. Queen Glory eyed the small dragons suspiciously looking down from the tall dark trees and slowly turned to her group composed NightWings and RainWings. Unaware of the dangers that might lurk in this strange savage world, Queen Glory refused to say a word where the world was quiet and drew a word in the thin layer of dirt underneath her paws. All dragons gave a curt nod and stretched their wings to take to the air, the RainWings shifting their scales into a darker color against the night sky. Two members of their tribe had been lost in this place, and you could count on their Queen that they'd be brought back home.

…

'' _What are we doing back here?''_ demanded Darklight, trailing behind Shadowdrift who beat his sore wings after Hiccup and Toothless flying ahead of him with all the other Dragon Riders surrounding them.

A small island stretched beneath them, consisted of only rocks and boulders as far as the eye could see. The trees that had grown here were dead now, some colorful little beasts climbing to their branches and screeching at them. This place was where Shadowdrift and Darklight had woken up after their arrival in this world full of beauty, danger and a tiny bit of craziness to it. Ever since Shadowdrift had woken up the first time, he'd felt uneasy about this place. It seemed like they had just appeared out of nowhere on this patch of rock. Unlike the portal on NightWing Island indicating a passage, there was none to be seen here which made both NightWings wonder if they'd ever really go back to Pyrrhia one day.

Shadowdrift followed the Riders down to the island and thought to himself aloud, _''They must think we're from around here.''_

Darklight joined his side and they carefully landed in a small clearing surrounded by trees. The only dragons that inhabited this island were these weird little colorful sports that wouldn't quit staring down at them, whatever they did to scare them away. Darklight stared them in the eye, glaring dangerously. But the little creatures didn't even flinch. The female NightWing growled low, clearly disliking this place.

'' _Someone's gonna have to make these_ humans _understand that this isn't our home,''_ said Darklight harshly, almost snapping. When Darklight was unhappy about something, you knew about it. She pushed over a boulder in disgust and groaned to herself. _''Urgh, what I wouldn't give to be back in the rainforest.''_

Shadowdrift's eyes searched the place while she continued whining, watching as the Riders dismounted their dragons and patted them they did a good job. He watched Hiccup as he turned around to face the duo of NightWings, stretching his arms wide to show them the island. Now he understood. Of course, Hiccup wasn't stupid. This was the place he was found! He must just be trying to help them find their way back home. If only he knew…

Shadowdrift's eyes scanned the area for possible traces as he walked around, his big claws grazing the stone underneath him. Until they didn't. Looking down, brown eyes stretched wide in confusion when he read the word 'search' written in a patch of dirt at his feet. This wasn't written in any language. These were the scribbles from Pyrrhia, the same ones from his scrolls. Shadowdrift recalled what the Riders' runes looked like. He hadn't been able to read any of them. But this he could. Which could only mean one thing.

'' _Hey, Darklight?''_ he called to his friend, his wide, disbelieving eyes never leaving the scribbles. But the NightWing did not answer right away. _''Darklight?''_ Leaving the patch of dirt, Shadowdrift twisted his body to see no signs of Darklight.

Until a loud roar rang from the other side of a pile of stones. _''Hey, I found something!''_ she called, a clear edge of excitement in her voice.

Shadowdrift frowned and left the word 'search' behind him, grazing it with his tail unconsciously. He turned the corner to find Darklight bouncing up and down in front of a weak cavity, the one they'd woken up in front the first time. But something was different now. A heavy metal chain was sticking out of the rock wall, scarred with claw marks and slightly melted on the edges like it's been dipped in lava.

'' _Check this out.''_ said Darklight, a mile-wide smiled stretched on her face as she reached and grabbed it with both paws. She tugged on it twice and to Shadowdrift's surprise, the chain slid out of the wall and the stone around it sort of melted back into place, only to make space for the chain again when it returned. Something about this wall didn't feel right.

Gathering this information in his head, Shadowdrift looked back where the scribbles had been drawn, only to see Toothless with a long branch between his jaws tracing lines over the word.

''Really, bud? Not helping.'' he heard Hiccup say. The boy was standing next to the Night Fury, hands to his hips as he scoffed, watching his buddy mess around.

But while Shadowdrift had his head turned and Darklight was toying with the weird magical chain in the wall, a firm and hard tug pulled the female NightWing through the stone and not another noise was heard. Shadowdrift had twisted his head just in time when he heard her yelp to see the last bit of his friend disappear, the chain gone just as well.

Panicking, Shadowdrift bounced closer to the wall, clawing the stone desperately.

'' _No, no, no!''_ he roared, his claws leaving long white scratched against it. ' _'Darklight!?"_

But no response was returned, only a normal wall standing before him. Shadowdrift dropped back to his four, whining loudly to his lost friend. He was aware his cries and calls had attracted the Riders and the other dragons that stood behind him, trying to understand what was happening.

''Hey, big guy,'' said Hiccup from behind him, and Shadowdrift only twisted his neck halfway to make eye contact with the little human. He still wanted to see the wall in case anything at all happened. ''Calm down. What's going on? W-where's your friend?''

The night dragon folded back his ears and returned to the stone stretching before him, just waiting for something to happen.

Toothless bumped into his rider, whining softly. But despite his gentle noises, the Night Fury's eyes were narrowed to slits as he stared at the NightWing and the rock wall before him, his nostrils moving with each breath. Hiccup stared down at his dragon in confusion and returned to the desperate black dragon, approaching slowly with both hands raised to mean no harm.

''Ok, listen up here, big guy,'' started Hiccup, Toothless holding his ground with his wings gradually stretching wider to look bigger. The other dragons had also started adapting strange behaviors, their riders working to keep them calm. Hiccup returned his eyes on the dragon staring at the dead end and continued to approach gingerly. ''Hey, come on. Try to help us understand- WHOA!''

Before Hiccup could finish his sentence, he stumbled backward as a black dragon head popped out of the rock wall, the rest of the body still swallowed up in the stone. Toothless rushed to help his rider, and the boy grabbed on to his saddle before he met the hard ground. The Night Fury took one look at him to make sure he was okay before returning his narrowed eyes on the action happening before them. Stormfly had jumped backward and Hookfang had reared his head up, having Snotlout thrown violently.

Shadowdrift had taken a couple rushed footsteps backward as well, as shocked by this as everybody else behind him. When his huge brown eyes had finally registered the dragon head that came out of the wall, Shadowdrift frowned in confusion and approached.

'' _Darklight?''_ he wondered out loud at the smiling face before him.

'' _Shadow, you won't believe what's on the other side_!'' exclaimed Darklight, and finally jumped out completely out of the stone, breathing hard. Shadowdrift sniffed her over, the acrid smell of smoke clinging to her scales.

Pinching his nose, Shadowdrift backed away slightly. _''Urgh, what happened to you?''_ he asked, meeting her eyes. He thought he'd lost her, and he couldn't help but show worry. But before Darklight could answer the question, another NightWing crossed over, holding the same chain with her talons.

A tall female NightWing landed on the stone floor, leaving a flash of bluish light behind her like lightning. She dropped she metal chain on the ground and lifted her gaze to Shadowdrift, her eyes filling up with water and a smile stretching on her delicate face.

Shadowdrift stared at her in disbelief, his jaws parting as he locked eyes with her.

'' _Mom?''_


	15. Chapter 15

Toothless growled low and came closer to his rider to protect him against this newcomer. All the other dragons did the same, uneasy with this whole crossing wall thing. Hiccup had finally regained his footing and still breathed hard in astonishment at the events that had occurred right before their eyes.

Snotlout groaned and readjusted his helmet since Hookfang had thrown him off accidentally. The Monstrous Nightmare didn't even notice his upset rider and stared wide-eyed at the scene unfolding in front of them.

''Ok, so let me get this straight.'' spoke up Snotlout, the first one since _that_ happened. ''These dragons live _in_ the island.''

''Isn't that awesome!?'' exclaimed Tuffnut, punching his fists in the air excitedly, Ruffnut bouncing up and down by his side.

''I would want to live in an island,'' stated Ruffnut, a large smile printed on her lips.

''Yeah, but not as much as _I_ do,'' said Tuffnut, bursting his sister's bubble. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away in annoyance. ''Can you imagine? The comfort of the beds?''

''Hiccup…'' whimpered Fishlegs, his whole body quaky while he was in shock. ''This those dragons just-?''

''Walk out of the wall?'' said Hiccup, his troubled eyes never leaving the now three night dragons. ''Yuh-huh.'' Being bright heads, Hiccup and Fishlegs tried to understand how this could even work, but there was no logical explanation to their blizzards of questions storming inside their minds.

''How's that even possible?'' asked Astrid, widening her arms to gesture at the dragons, her eyes wild while she looked at Hiccup for some enlightenment.

''Oh, my dear Astrid,'' said Tuffnut with a royal tone, approaching the warrior and placing a hand on her spiked shoulder blade. ''Anything's possible. The world is full of mysteries, some of which are never meant to be uncovered. Like how can dragons walk through walls.'' He turned to face the trio, but Astrid clearly wasn't feeling better. More awkward than anything else, really.

Moondance, Shadowdrift's mother, unwrapped her wings from around her dragonet after a choking hug and passed from sweet to nearly fierce.

' _'What were you thinking? Crossing that portal?''_ demanded Moondance, jamming her talon in her dragonet's chest for an explanation. _''You could've been killed!'_ ' He understood he'd had her terribly worried. After all, she was his mother, and all the dragons in Pyrrhia knew how protective mothers could be about their children. It was hard for some to leave them to go to Jade Mountain Academy, he couldn't imagine how it's been for her to know her dragonet had been lost to an animus touched portal on NightWing Island and couldn't come back on his own. He felt terribly guilty.

 _''Yeah, he could've,''_ commented Darklight, joining in. _''But he didn't. As a matter of fact, he got good treatment compared to what I got…''_

 _''Queen Glory's out there as we speak, searching for you two,''_ informed Moondance, looking each dragonet over for signs of injury.

 _''All by herself?''_ asked Darklight, an edge of alarm in her tone.

 _''No, no, she travels with a party.'_ ' corrected Moondance, locking eyes with both NightWings each in their turn. _''She said she'd stop at nothing to bring you back home.''_

 _''But she doesn't even know her way around here,''_ said Shadowdrift, his gaze dropping to the ground.

' _'Neither did you when you decided to cross that portal,''_ said Moondance, her face turning stern once again.

Darklight placed herself before Shadowdrift, putting all of Moondance's attention on her. _''Moondance, please.''_ she pleaded, looking back at Shadowdrift. She recalled when she pressed Shadowdrift to come with her to go through the tunnel. He never wanted to. But she hadn't cared. Shadowdrift had followed her against his will. Darklight returned her brown eyes on her best friend's mother. _''This wasn't his fault. It was my idea to go to_ _NightWing Island in the first place.''_ She noticed Moondance's eyes stretch wide, and the young NightWing felt as guilty as ever.

 _''Darklight,''_ started Moondance, her voice slow and low.

 _''Please, take it out on me, be mad at me but please, just do_ n't _—''_

 _''Darklight,''_ said Moondance again, and Darklight noticed she was looking past her. _''There's a pack of scavengers right behind you. And I don't mean to freak you out, but they're bigger than in Pyrrhia…''_

Darklight stared at her and frowned. She twisted her neck to see Hiccup a distance away waving awkwardly at them, Toothless holding his ground close to him.

' _'Oh, don't worry about them,''_ said Shadowdrift, hopping out from behind Darklight to place himself in front of the group of Dragon Riders. He was aware the dragons from his world were still enemies with scavengers. They were, well, scavengers! They were no good to them. But these guys were, and Shadowdrift had to make that clear to his mother. _''They're our friends.''_

Moondance took a step back, her ears folding back while she stared shocked. She lifted a paw up, making gestures. _''So you keep them as pets..?''_ asked Moondance, having a hard time understanding the connection Shadowdrift had with these creatures.

The young NightWing rolled his eyes and smiled lovingly at his mother. He'd explain, all in good time.

''Alright, well, I guess we got our answer as to where these guys came from,'' stated Hiccup, turning to the other Riders.

''But this doesn't make any sense!'' exclaimed Fishlegs, clearly in conflict with the images his eyes registered and the logic of how this world worked. ''Magic can't, by far, be the only justification to this weirdest phenomenon!''

''Open up your eyes, Fishy,'' said Snotlout, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him down to his height. ''Even my mind is blown.''

''Your mind's been blown to bits since your birth, Snotlout,'' stated Astrid, a mocking smile growing on her lips.

"Take that back!'' ordered Snotlout, pointing his index at her. But Astrid only rolled her eyes, bringing a hand to her hip.

Hiccup passed between them, approaching the three NightWings carefully, holding his hands up when he was close enough. The three dragons looked down at him and backed off. The Rider reached the rock wall and brushed his hand on its cool surface, humming to himself thoughtfully.

''No, please! Don't go through, my fearsome leader!'' called Tuffnut, sounding truly distressed for Hiccup. ''Let _me_ cross first…''

Hiccup twisted around, displeased. ''No one is crossing that thing,'' he ordered, pointing his finger to the ground with a commanding tone. He was serious about it, and everyone, even the twins, knew better than disobeying that direct order.

Tuffnut dropped his shoulders in disappointment, his twin sister smirking down at him smugly.

''Hiccup's right,'' said Astrid, fighting for words. ''We don't even know what's on the other side.''

''I vote to take a guess!'' shouted Ruffnut, raising her hand. ''I say dragons.''

''I say rocks!'' said Tuffnut, balling his hands into fists.

''I say you two shut up,'' added Snotlout, his arms crossed over his chest in annoyance.

The twins glared at him, their fun killed by this comment.

''Rude,'' mumbled Tuffnut, looking Snotlout up and down.

''You're just mad 'cause you didn't get a vote,'' said Ruffnut, sticking out her tongue at him.

Hiccup sighed his irritation and returned to the wall. ''Whatever it is, it's not natural,'' he noted, pulling on the chain just slightly to watch the movement of the stone around it.

''Uh, duh,'' said Snotlout.''It's magic.''

''Right,'' said Tuffnut, rubbing his hands together. ''Mother Nature's not _that_ crazy. Though whoever did that deserves one _huge_ golden medal… shining, you know? The whole package deal…'' He continued for a while, describing every single detail, forming the imaginary object with his hands.

Hiccup walked back to the group, the NightWings listening closely to what the leader of the Dragon Riders had to say. Moondance had her ears straight up, attentive to every word, amazed that she could understand those scavengers.

''It wouldn't be a good idea to go through anyway. If more of those dragons are on the other side, we might not be as welcomed as we think,'' continued Hiccup, turning around to look at the NightWings. ''They've proven to be hostile to humans. Not all might respond the same way.'' He turned back to the Riders, a serious mask covering his face. ''It's not a risk I'm willing to take. Not when this world needs our help. We still gotta stop Viggo and his Hunters before every dragon in and outside the Archipelago gets wiped out from existence.''

''Oh, alright.'' moaned Tuffnut, looking up to his leader nodding. ''We still got tons of explosions left for the Hunters. The magical rock wall can wait for later.''

The NightWings approached the Riders and their dragons, the newcomer undoubtedly older. Moondance stepped closer to Hiccup who turned around to face the dragon, Toothless close to keep an eye on them. She poked him with a claw and ruffled his hair roughly. After a good sniff at him, she shoved her muzzle in his middle and Hiccup scratched her scaly cheeks to show he wasn't that bad. The Night Fury growled low warningly and Hiccup chuckled at his buddy's protective and jealous side.

''So what happens now?'' asked Astrid, looking at Hiccup expectantly. ''We know where they come from now, and you were right, Hiccup. They're not from around here. At all, for that matter.''

''Right.'' agreed Hiccup, looking up at the three dragons. Then he frowned, confused. ''But why won't they go home, now?''

The NightWings shared a look, their features expressive enough for Hiccup to understand something was wrong. At the same moment, distant roars echoed in the air and all ear peered up towards its source out at sea. An unsettling tension hanged in the air while the dragons growled, teeth bared and eyes narrowed.

''Uh, Hiccup?'' said Fishlegs.

''We all heard it, Fishlegs.'' said Hiccup who turned to his second-in-command. ''Astrid?''

''That call sounded very familiar.'' she agreed, looking at Shadowdrift who was growing concern.

''And extremely painful,'' added Tuffnut, flinching as he played the sound over and over in his head.

''We need to hurry,'' said Hiccup mounting upon Toothless' back and holding his handles tight. ''I think I might have a guess on who started trouble again.''

* * *

 **I don't have much to say except that I got even more chapters ready to be revised and uploaded. So prepare for regular updates.**

 **Till next chapter!**


	16. Chapter 16

Every Rider hopped on their saddle and took to the sky, hurrying to find out what was going out at sea. That cry sounded painful indeed. The Dragon Riders really were friends and allies to dragons, whatever world they came from. They really were willing to put themselves at risk against those Dragon Hunters. That heroic act when Shadowdrift watched Hiccup go through the blazing flames of the burning ship had the NightWing admire with great respect the little human. He hoped his mother could see that in him just as well.

Shadowdrift watched them climb high, and a sudden urge to go with them had his wingtips itch to spread. He looked at Darklight who understood what he felt and then turned to his mother.

'' _Don't worry, mom,''_ he said, hugging her hard, his head reaching under her chin _. ''I'll be back before you know it.''_

Moondance looked down at him and immediately said, _''No way, I'm not letting you out of my sight ever again. Not until you're a full-grown NightWing.''_

'' _Moondance, they need us,''_ said Darklight, shouldering her friend. _''If Glory's party's out there, they're going to need all the help they can get to deal with a whole new bunch of NightWings and RainWings hostile to scavengers. They saved our lives.''_

'' _Not to mention the Hunters,''_ added Shadowdrift, recalling what happened to Darklight.

Moondance stared down at them thoughtfully. She could see this adventure had her dragonet changed. He was braver and louder. He'd stand for what he believed was the right thing to do. He wasn't the same quiet, submissive dragonet from the last time she saw her son. He'd make one great dragon some day.

Smiling, Moondance lowered her head to snuggle the youngsters. _''Alright.''_ she agreed, her voice entwined with worry for them nonetheless. _''But be careful. You're my only dragonet. I wouldn't want to lose you.''_

Shadowdrift smiled up at her warmly, about to leave his mother once again to head out towards great dangers. Twisting around and speeding up into a gallop, Shadowdrift took to the blue sky, Darklight hot on his heels. Catching up fast with the Dragon Riders, the two NightWings took places in the V formation as they beat their wings to get to the Dragon Hunters as fast as possible before they laid their dirty hands on dragons that didn't belong to this world.

''Alright, bud,'' said Hiccup, patting Toothless' scaly head as he leaned forward. ''Do your thing.'' The Night Fury looked at his rider from the corner of the eye and then focused ahead, summoning his ability of echolocation. He stretched his jaws wide and an ear-splitting noise came out, the purple waves stretching out before them. His ears flicked for a return and Toothless growled to his rider.

''You got something?'' asked Hiccup, and Toothless roared sharply, accelerating his speed. ''Common!''

The rest of the gang followed, the NightWings fighting to keep up since they weren't used to traveling long distances fast. They cut across clouds and flew blindly for some time until dragon roars and shouts from men caught every Rider and dragon's attention ahead. Shadowdrift looked sideways to Darklight who shared the same uneasy feeling. But both swallowed up their fear and plunged down after the others, bursting out of the clouds to come face to face with the most brutal battle the NightWings had ever seen. Not even the stories in the scrolls had Shadowdrift this shaken. Dragons from Pyrrhia - NightWings and RainWings - were battling a Dragon Hunter fleet of two ships. Archers on deck fired their arrows to the dragons above, but no matter how many they hit, those dragons didn't react to the Dragon Root at the tips. NightWings swooped in, breathing massive amounts of fire on the ships' decks, only to be immediately put out by the men aboard, leaving dark patches on the wood. RainWings crawled down the masts and spat their deadly venom, missing several Hunters, yet still succeeding at hearing some scream as their skin melted.

''I've never seen anything like this!'' stated Fishlegs, his hands up to his mouth as he studied the strange behavior of those dragons. ''Dragons are predators, sure, but they still flight trouble if they can. This is unnatural!''

''Yeah, you'll get that from dragons that walk through walls,'' commented Tuffnut, leaning comfortably against Belch's thin horns.

''Quit bickering and let's get to it!'' commanded Astrid, leaning down on Stormfly's back. The Deadly Nadder felt her rider's position on the saddle and dive-bombed down into battle.

The rest of the Dragon Riders swooped into battle as well, firing at the ships with everything they had, avoiding as much the swarm of black and rainbow dragons. Hiccup flew Toothless low to one ship, leaving behind them a trace of bubbles on the ocean's surface. The Night Fury summoned a plasma blast and fired the ship's side, leaving a huge hole just above the water's surface but not enough to sink it. Hiccup groaned to himself and flew Toothless high in the sky. Toothless twisted around and with a blast of his wings, he dived back down into the fight, firing at the mast right as he passed by. A loud screech had Hiccup turn around while Toothless continued in his momentum to see an injured dragon stretched across the deck of the ship.

''Oh no,'' mumbled Hiccup, grabbing onto the handles of his saddle to double back. ''That dragon appeared out of nowhere.'' The Rider narrowed his eyes to the colorful creature surrounded by Hunters with weapons raised. Hiccup gasped and came to direct Toothless to get the dragon out of there when it suddenly disappeared into thin air. ''Those dragons must have the ability to camouflage!''

Hiccup flew higher in the sky where Fishlegs had retreated, studying the dragons intensely.

''Fishlegs, did you see that?'' asked Hiccup, hovering his dragon next to Meatlug.

''I did,'' replied Fishlegs, turning to Hiccup. ''Just like the Changewing, these dragons must be able to change their scales. Which would mean their skin is very sensitive. Even low firepower can cause great injuries to these dragons.''

''Alright, I'm going back in there,'' said Hiccup, watching the storm of dragons down below, wondering where to strike next. ''I'll clear the deck, you and Meatlug get that dragon out of there."

Fishlegs gave him thumbs up and directed his Gronckle down after the Night Fury. Toothless' mouth shined purple as he prepared another fireball.

''Alright, let's just hope we get the Hunters and not the dragon…'' said Hiccup, leaning low on the saddle. Toothless fired, and a cloud of smoke right next to the injured dragon had the spot cleared just long enough for Meatlug to grab the limp form of the dragon and lift it up high in the air, out of the archers' range.

''Good girl, Meatlug,'' said Fishlegs, congratulating his dragon.

''Great job, Fishlegs!'' called Hiccup a distance away. ''Take it back to the Edge and tend to it. We don't want that dragon to die!'' Fishlegs gave a curt nod and flew in direction for Dragon's Edge, the unconscious dragon limp between Meatlug's talons.

''Alright, here we go again,'' said Hiccup, returning his focus on the battle. He gained speed and was about to fire when a night dragon roared past him and tried to swing what looked like a spear. The whole thing happened in slow motion where Hiccup stared wide-eyed as the dragon attacked, its brown eyes so intelligent and wise. Thankfully, Hiccup managed to duck the blow and slow Toothless to a stop. ''Uh, what just happened?''

He heard Astrid curse as she was intercepted by a colorful dragon, its features more delicate than the black ones. She joined Hiccup's side, calming Stormfly who'd gotten more agitated than usual.

''Whoa, those guys are nasty!'' said Astrid, regaining her balance on her saddle.

''Tell me about it!'' shouted Snotlout from behind them. He held his helmet tight, a furious look on his face. ''A huge one just tried biting my head off!''

The twins arrived on their Zippleback, not seeming to be enjoying this either, even after the tons of explosions they'd just treated themselves with.

''I have to say, Hiccup,'' said Tuffnut, looking kind of upset. ''This isn't as fun as it looked in the first place.''

''They can't make the difference between us or the Hunters,'' noted Hiccup, looking down at the storm of dragons still attacking the ships savagely. ''We need to retreat. We can't fight like this.''

The other Riders nodded their agreement and started to retreat above the clouds when Astrid turned around and gasped.

''Uh, Hiccup?'' called Astrid as she watched wide-eyed behind her.

Hiccup turned to face her. ''What is it?'' he asked and looked where he eyes did and turned around just in time to see a huge black dragon beating its wings after them, catching up with them at great speed. ''Toothless!''

The Night Fury whined sharply, looking under his wings to see how close the dragon could be. But it was too late and Toothless turned around to avoid as much damage as possible by ramming his head against the massive dragon's thick forehead. Unfortunately, Toothless didn't possess the horns those dragons had and had his head spinning, misbalancing himself in mid-flight. Losing consciousness, the Night Fury forgot to beat his wings and went plunging down the sky.

''Toothless!'' shouted Hiccup to his dragon, holding on tight, the wind roaring in his ears. He felt his prosthetic leg sliding out of place and soon found himself leaving the saddle. He tried to claw the air to get to his buddy, but Toothless was falling faster than he could.

Shadowdrift, who flew next to Darklight while they circled the battle, watched as Deathbringer attacked Hiccup and Toothless, resulting into the duo falling out of the sky while the NightWing chased after the rest of them. He inhaled sharply and dashed after the Night Fury and the Rider, summoning all of his strength to reach them before they met the ocean's surface. He figured Darklight had heard his sudden urgent thoughts because he sensed her following behind him, aware that he'd need her help if he wanted to save both.

The air whistled in his ears as he dive-bombed after the Rider. But despite the loud noise, he could still hear Hiccup's shouts as he fell into empty.

''Common, just a little bit closer!'' he called to the dragon, reaching out a hand so he could grab on the moment Shadowdrift was close enough. Hiccup's fingers grazed the long spikes on the NightWing's back and finally grasped it tightly, swinging the rest of his body on the dragon's back.

Shadowdrift could feel his heart beat loudly in his chest as he spread his wings wide before he plunged into the sea. Unfortunately, Deathbringer wasn't done with them and Shadowdrift had only time to look up to see the huge NightWing descending from above in the sunlight, casting a menacing shadow on him. Next thing Shadowdrift felt were claws piercing his skin, a bit too close to where Hiccup held on to. He heard the Rider yelp as Deathbringer stroke, but Shadowdrift didn't get the chance to check if Hiccup was alright for he was rocked off his flight balance and could direct himself nowhere else but towards the fleet of Hunters.

The deck grew bigger as the NightWing beat his wings unevenly and soon crashed on the massive enemy ship. Hiccup was thrown overhead and met the wooden surface with a sickening thud. The wind knocked out of him, Hiccup fought for breath, coughing multiple times before managing to regain his footing. The NightWing moaned behind him, and Hiccup twisted around to see to the dragon.

Claw marks pierced Shadowdrift's back and blood refused to stop coming out of the fresh wounds.

''Oh, no, no, no!'' shouted Hiccup, trying to stop the blood with bare hands, only managing to stain his skin red. Inhaling a shaky breath, Hiccup couldn't help his eyes water as he leaned against the injured NightWing's form.

A shadow stretched on them and Hiccup looked up to see Ryker towering over him, holding his toothed dragon-proof sword proudly in one hand.

''Well, look what we have here,'' said Ryker, clear mock in his tone as men started surrounding their new captives. ''Hiccup, I must say, I never expected you to deliver this magnificent creature right at my feet.'' Hunters chuckled around, but Hiccup kept glaring up at their leader. Smirking at the young Dragon Rider's courage to challenge him, Ryker added, ''Viggo will sure be happy. And even more when he sees you.''

* * *

 **There, for those who wanted Shadowdrift to get hurt. I told you I noted it down.**

 **Well, thanks for the couple reviews notifying me that some people still follow and till next chapter!**


	17. Chapter 17

Toothless thrashed around in the air while he was held hovering between the NightWing's talons. He roared angrily at the fleet where he had seen his rider crash on the deck of one of those two ships, trying to get to him without considering the fact that he wouldn't even be able to save him or himself for that matter.

'' _Will you quit thrashing around, you big lump?''_ cursed Darklight, trying to keep the Night Fury steady. But of course, Toothless didn't understand a word and kept going.

Astrid approached on Stormfly and balanced herself while standing on her dragon's back. With a curt nod to the NightWing, she jumped off her Deadly Nadder at the same time Darklight let go of Toothless and Astrid grabbed onto the handles and placed her boot in place to send the prosthetic tail wide open.

The moment Toothless felt a rider on his back, he tried reaching the ship, but Astrid pulled on the handles, holding back the Night Fury before he did something he might regret.

''No, Toothless!'' she ordered, having him hover. ''We can't save Hiccup. It's just too risky.''

The Night Fury looked up at her with sad eyes, whining low for the loss of his best friend. Astrid pulled on the handles and directed Toothless above the clouds where the other Dragon Riders awaited their team member's return. Darklight looked at the Riders and then to her tribe who was finally gathering together, leaving the retreating ships alone now that they had what they wanted. The female NightWing frowned at the other dragons of Pyrrhia and dashed to join them. She still couldn't believe Deathbringer had tried to kill Hiccup with Shadowdrift this close. He'd accidently injured her friend and now he was captive of those monsters. She just had to go talk to them.

Looking back at the Dragon Riders, Darklight wondered how in the world they'd manage to get Hiccup and Shadowdrift out of this mess. It wasn't only her tribe who'd lost one of their own in this battle, but those humans as well. And unless Darklight managed to convince her own to respect them, neither dragon or human would get out of there alive.

…

The Dragon Riders hovered above the clouds, disbelieving the outcomes of this battle.

''Where's Fishlegs?'' asked Astrid when she joined what was left of her team.

''I saw Hiccup sent him away with an injured dragon,'' replied Snotlout, pointing in the direction their missing Rider had left. ''What about Hiccup?''

''It's too late to get him off that ship without risking anything,'' answered Astrid, sighing loudly, obviously disappointed of their defeat. ''We'll have to come up with something else.''

''You have a plan?'' asked Snotlout, only to receive a heavy sigh once again.

''I'd be lying if I said I did,'' said Astrid, meeting his eyes.

''I wouldn't worry too much,'' comment Ruffnut, reaching her arms behind her head to lean back.

''How's that?'' asked Astrid, staring at the girl dead in the eye as a dare to joke right now.

''Oh, Astrid,'' replied Tuffnut. ''Don't you know?''

''Hiccup is a magical creature.'' continued Ruffnut, making gestures of her hands. ''Just like our mysterious new friends who tried to kill us earlier.''

''He'll stray off that dark path any minute now,'' said Tuffnut, leaning on his side to look down the ocean, expecting their leader to appear. ''Any minute…'' When nothing happened, he turned to the rest of the Riders, a concerned expression covering his face. ''Alright we might have a problem,''

Astrid grunted frustratingly, tightening her fists around the handles. The sky was turning warmer in colors, announcing the approach of nighttime. It would be dark soon, and the Dragon Riders needed a plan to get their leader away from those psychopaths of Hunters. Astrid imagined the pleased look all over Viggo's face when he'd see Hiccup on his island. Which is why they needed to act fast before it was too late.

…

'' _Queen Glory!''_ called Darklight as she flew towards her tribe, NightWings and RainWings hovering above the water close to each other. She noticed quickly some dragons with scratches on their scales and some wounded by arrows.

Watching all around her, Darklight forgot to look where she was going and accidentally bumped into another NightWing. Shaking her head, the young dragon looked up to Deathbringer.

'' _Don't worry, Darklight,''_ said Deathbringer, his tone so calm, she wondered if he was fine in his head and suitable to be their queen's personal guard after all. _''Those scavengers will bother you no more. It's all better now.''_

Darklight's ears folded back immediately, disbelieving the older dragon's words.

'' _No it's not!''_ she shouted, tears watering her eyes against her will. _''Shadowdrift and Hiccup are now stuck on that thing and you have no idea how cruel those Hunters can be!''_

'' _What's a Hiccup?''_ demanded Deathbringer, narrowing his eyes to slits.

 _''It's not a thing!_ _He's the scavenger Shadowdrift tried to save until you ruined everything,''_ replied Darklight, replaying the scene when she saw the huge NightWing descending from above and clawing at the dragonet - a member of his own tribe - trying to kill a friend of theirs who'd helped them all along every since their arrival here.

'' _Your friend had no business saving that scavenger.''_ snapped Deathbringer, closing in on the space between him and the young dragon to appear more threatening. _''Those creatures only care for treasure and will kill dragons to get what they want. Didn't you learn anything from your scrolls about Queen Oasis?''_

'' _Of course, I did!''_ replied Darklight, looking him dead in the eye, but he didn't flinch a bit. _''But this isn't Pyrrhia. Hiccup and the others are friends to dragons. The ones on those floating wooden things are the real enemies.''_ She turned her head to see the two ships sailing away, a small group of dragons following them a distance away.

'' _Listen to me very clearly when I say that nothing will stand in my way to get your friend back home in the rainforest,''_ said Deathbringer, keeping his voice lower than usual. _''We've already lost our queen today; I will not fail her promise because of a bunch of good or bad scavengers. If any of them stand in my way I will bite their heads off and throw them as far as the eye can see._ ''

Darklight stared wide-eyed at the NightWing, registering every single word. _''What?_ '' she gasped, replaying the part when he said they'd lost their queen. ' _'Queen Glory's… dead?''_

Deathbringer's tight look suddenly melted down to guilt.

'' _What happened to her?''_ she asked, and the NightWing returned his gaze on her again.

'' _Glory was taken down after being hit by some blast,''_ informed Deathbringer, his voice more gentle now. _''I tried to get to her, but another one hit close to her while she was vulnerable. I was too close and got blinded by the light. I had to retreat. But when I doubled back... she was gone.''_

Darklight gaze dropped to stare sadly at the wavy ocean beneath her star-dotted wings, suddenly feeling guilty - probably more than Deathbringer was.

'' _I'm sorry,''_ she answered, never meeting the older dragon's dark brown eyes. He was right. They had to fulfill their queen's promise to her tribe. And she was with them for that. She just hoped they wouldn't have to hurt any of the Dragon Riders in doing so.


	18. Chapter 18

Night had fallen and the only noises on Dragon Hunter Island were the screeches and painful roars of captive dragons that'd fallen in the traps of those men. Two ships slowly sailed into the harbor and a long wooden plank was dropped to connect the first embarkation to the deck. Hunters made their way back down to Earth, dragging by force dragons that'd been captured and put in small cells beneath deck. The fire-breathing creatures wailed in agony, fighting the dragon-proof chains bounded to their bodies.

Ryker grunted low as he watched his men take care of the beasts, displeased that their hunt hadn't been more successful after the Dragon Riders had interfered and sunk their lead ships where most of the dragons had been kept. But a couple escaped dragons wasn't as worth as what he'd caught today. The Hunter smiled darkly as he watched the Dragon Rider leader forced down the plank, bounded up and alone with no friends to save him. Hiccup noticed the man from the corner of his eye and glared at him before being tugged roughly forward from the rope connected to his wrists in front of him. As he watched the boy be taken away, Ryker turned back around to watch his formidable catch.

The NightWing thrashed around, whining loudly. Chains tucked his wings tight to his sides and kept his jaws clapped together, keeping him from blasting his way out of here with smoldering hot flames. Trusting his little brother would be very pleased; Ryker chuckled and started for the center of the island to get Viggo.

…

The scene where Hiccup and the NightWing were dragged off the Hunter ship mirrored in the lens of a spyglass held by Astrid who overlooked the situation on the table, thinking about her next move.

''Well, looks like Hiccup's unhurt,'' she reported to the others standing behind her. They had landed on high ground to get the best view of the island as possible. The area was quite secluded, so they were out of eyesight from any undesired visitor. ''They're unloading the dragons. Gosh, they're in awful shape, poor things.''

Astrid brought down the spyglass and frowned as she thought, only to get Toothless bumping to her side, whining softly in worry as he watched his rider and dragon friend mistreated and carried away.

''Don't worry, Toothless,'' reassured Astrid, scratching the Night Fury's scaly forehead gently. ''We'll get them both back. I promise.''

''I don't mean to burst your bubble, Astrid,'' said Snotlout, raising both hands when Astrid turned around to face him, a displeased look featuring on her face. ''But how are we going to save _both_ without… you know?''

''Getting killed?'' proposed Tuffnut, sitting in Indian style while his back rested against his part of the dragon's chest, his sister doing the same. ''Or worse, tortured to death by tickles of feathers?''

''You done?'' asked Astrid, bringing her hands to her hips while staring him down.

Tuffnut shrugged, rolling his eyes. ''Maybe, maybe not,'' he replied. ''Maybe I don't want to answer that question, Miss Astrid.''

Astrid sighed in exasperation, disbelieving the fact that she was stuck with this mission with only Snotlout and the twins to help her out.

''Hey, don't give me that look, young lady!'' called Tuffnut when he saw her look up to the sky.

But Astrid ignored the rest of his bickering and rose the spyglass back to her eye, searching where her leader had gone. She searched the beach and clearing below where tents were installed, but there were no signs of him or the dragon.

''I lost Hiccup.'' she updated, bringing the object down once again.

''How could you do such a thing, Astrid?'' demanded Ruffnut, raising to her feet and dusting herself off.

''You can't blame her,'' commented Tuffnut, springing to his feet just as well. ''I mean, Hiccup's pretty slippery. Well, except to Ryker. Ryker's hands are just… wow. My whole head could fit into his palm!''

Astrid brightened up suddenly, her gaze tracing from the twins to the ground as her mind formed an idea.

''You're right, Tuff,'' said Astrid, reaching a hand to her chin. ''We'll never snatch Hiccup away that easily. Ryker knows we're coming and he'll have Viggo warned. If we're gonna help Hiccup and the big guy get out of here, we can't be in the picture for too long.''

''What does that even mean?'' asked Snotlout, utterly confused.

''We're not Hiccup's only allies here,'' said Astrid. ''That dragon, he's smart. Smarter than any dragon I've ever seen. No offense, Toothless.'' The Night Fury growled and shook his head, sending his ears flopping.

''Ok, so let me get this straight,'' said Snotlout, raising both hands to picture the idea. ''You want to use an untrained dragon that has clearly never actually battled from the looks of it as our only chance to save our leader? Great idea, Astrid.''

''Hey, at least we have a chance.'' disagreed Astrid, crossing her arms over her chest.

''Yeah, and we could also just swoop in, dragons blazing, and there wouldn't be much difference..!'' said Snotlout, face to face with the girl while the twins stood back, enjoying the scene.

''This discussion's over, Snotlout.'' declared Astrid, walking pass the smaller Viking to get to her dragon. She patted her Deadly Nadder's muzzle and turned to the trio. ''Viggo must be with Hiccup by now. But I can't figure out where they'd be exactly.''

''What do you want us to do?'' asked Tuffnut, puffing out his chest, ready for his order.

''You two stay here and don't move,'' commanded Astrid, pointing down at the ground.

''Oh, really?'' replied Ruffnut, crossing her arms slowly. ''May I remind you who the bright heads are around here?''

''Yeah, it was our idea to follow them here,'' added Tuffnut, standing close to his sister. ''What would you have done? Mmh? _Mmh?_ ''

''Ok!'' said Astrid, giving up on debating their roles in this rescue mission. ''Go with Snotlout, then.''

Snotlout chuckled nervously, eyeing the twins who joined his side with their Zippleback following close by. ''You gotta be kidding?'' he asked, but Astrid was already mounting Stormfly and answered with a firm 'nope'.

''You three check for Viggo's tent, see if Hiccup might be around there somewhere,'' said Astrid while they mounted up too. ''Do you know which way that is?''

Snotlout snorted, rolling his eyes. ''Did you really just ask us that?'' he asked and pointed behind him with his thumb.

Astrid stared at him, displeased and pointed her index to her right. ''It's that way,'' she said, making Snotlout snort and roll his eyes all over again.

Toothless whined, narrowing his eyes as he looked down the clearing lively animated with Hunters proceeding to cage the dragons from the last load.

''Toothless,'' called Astrid, and the Night Fury bounded to her side, his toxic green eyes digging into hers. ''You're coming with me.''

* * *

 **The end is approaching, my fellow readers. I got 22 chapters for this story and let me tell yah, it has been a pleasure writing this down. I don't even know how I've come up with this idea in the first place 2 years and a couple days ago! I hope you're all still enjoying this.**


	19. Chapter 19

Hiccup started working on the rope bounding his wrists close together shortly after he'd been roughly thrown into an underground cell where some dragons were usually kept. But after a while of trying to free his hands, Hiccup gave up and let his back slide down the wall until his bottom hit the cold stone floor. A heavy sigh escaped his mouth, catching the NightWing's attention on the opposite side of the tunnel, locked up just as well. At least his chains had been removed. Of course, Viggo wouldn't want this dragon to be too scarred if he ever wanted to sell it.

Shadowdrift looked sadly at Hiccup, sorry this was happening. Seeing his relationship with these Hunters, especially the leader, he figured they must've met many times in the past. They had a quarrel - that was obvious. One tribe hunted and killed dragons while the other saved them. Shadowdrift tried to compare it to his ancestors' relationship with the IceWing tribe, but it wasn't possible. That had all been hatred over a treacherous act. Here, it was too kinds of people holding their ground for what they believed. He just wished he'd been stronger when Deathbringer attacked from above and made him crash on the ship. Then they wouldn't be here right now and would probably be home with his tribe. Hiccup and the Dragon Riders would be back on Dragon's Edge, carrying on with their everyday duties. But that wasn't the case.

''Sorry I got us into this mess, big guy,'' said Hiccup and Shadowdrift looked up at the Rider, seeing him stare down at the ground and throw little rocks on the rusty metal bars of the cell.

'' _You don't have to apologise,''_ said Shadowdrift even though he knew he wouldn't understand. _''It was my fault. I should've been stronger when Darklight dragged me into that cursed tunnel. Then you wouldn't be here.''_ Sighing, Shadowdrift lied down, tucking his head under his front paws.

''Oh, common, don't be like that,'' said Hiccup, getting to his feet and approaching the bars smiling weakly. ''We'll get out of here in no time. I promise.''

Shadowdrift rose a paw to make eye contact with the little human and sighed. He better have a good plan if he wanted to escape this place.

''Don't worry, I've escaped these kinds of places before,'' reassured Hiccup as if he'd heard his mind just like Darklight could have. But before Hiccup could add anything else, footsteps echoed down the tunnel and a shadow stretched across the walls.

Viggo appeared by the corner and Hiccup forced a fearless look on his face, only making the man smirk in amusement. He stopped in front of his cell, hands to his back. Hiccup could do nothing else but hold his gaze, looking as brave as he could with bound hands while recalling his last defeat against the Hunter.

''Hiccup, I didn't expect to see you again so soon,'' said Viggo, and paused for any sassy comebacks only to get a long silence. ''Tell me, how's life outside the Archipelago without my tools?''

''You have what you wanted from me, Viggo,'' replied Hiccup, approaching even closer to the bars, the only boundary between Rider and Hunter. ''Why do this?''

''Because I want to know more as of where you found this gorgeous creature,'' said Viggo, half turning around to gesture at the NightWing. Shadowdrift looked from Viggo to Hiccup with such intelligent eyes, Hiccup wondered if he was even a dragon.

Hiccup returned his eyes to Viggo, frowning annoyingly. ''You know very well I won't say a word,'' informed Hiccup, straightening up a little. ''Protecting dragons is what I do, and you can count on it when I say not a word is coming out of this mouth.''

Viggo seemed very displeased as he dropped his smug smirk and backed away from the cell.

''Alright, then,'' said Viggo, taking out an object from behind his back. ''I guess I'll find out myself.''

Hiccup watched confusingly when the Hunter approached the NightWing's cell and stood still before the dragon. Shadowdrift didn't like where this was going and rose to his fours, growling dangerously at the man. He didn't want him anywhere near, and he'd kill if that's what it took. Inhaling, Shadowdrift breathed his hot flames at the Hunter, hoping he managed to roast the man alive. But Viggo saw it coming and jumped out of the way just in time, exposing the entrance for the light of the Dragon Eye to the fire.

Hiccup's eyes shot wide in surprise at the sight of it but quickly frowned angrily at what this meant.

Out of breath, Shadowdrift retreated to the far side of the cell, still growling at the enemy. He didn't know what that thing was that he held in his hands, but whatever it was, it could be no good to dragons.

Viggo chuckled at the dragon's attempt to kill him and rose the Dragon Eye to see what the flame of this new dragon projected, only for there to be no maps or scribbles or any information flashing on the wall. Viggo stared at it in confusion, trying to understand why it hadn't worked.

A weak growl from the entrance of the tunnel caught Hiccup's attention as he watched Viggo try to get some information from the NightWing and turned to see the black head of Toothless peeking inside the tunnel branch.

Alarmed that the Hunter might turn around at that moment, Hiccup waved him away hurriedly. Toothless backed away but returned shortly after, a single key dangling from between his jaws. Hiccup shifted from Viggo to Toothless and finally gestured of his head to give it to him.

Toothless swung his head and threw the key in the air, sending it down the tunnel branch only for it to go closer to Shadowdrift's cell than Hiccup's. The Rider dropped his eyelids at his dragon that dropped lower to the ground, ashamed he messed up their chance.

Shadowdrift looked down at the key and back to the Hunter still toying with the Dragon Eye, replacing lenses and clicking buttons while mumbling to himself. The NightWing reached out a foreleg out through the cell door and grabbed the ring to the single key, dragging it towards him. There might not be any dungeons in the rainforest, but Shadowdrift had read enough scrolls to know how to open a lock. He pressed himself against the bars and slid the key into the lock, turned it and heard a dry _click!_. He noticed Hiccup watching him in amazement, smiling while holding on the cool metal bars of his own prison. His door now unlocked, Shadowdrift was about to throw Hiccup the key, only for Viggo to return to the boy, holding the Dragon Eye in front of him.

''It would appear my ancestors never encountered this dragon before to not register it on either a lens or with its flame.'' noted Viggo, studying the Dragon Eye before looking up darkly at Hiccup. The man didn't give a warning and reached out through the bars to grab the Rider's throat and dragged him closer so their faces were only inches apart. ''Tell me where you found this dragon.''

Hiccup coughed, clawing at the hand and leaving white marks. He looked Viggo dead in the eye and forced a smirk on his face.

''Well of course you won't find anything about this dragon on the Dragon Eye, ,iggo.'' said Hiccup, his voice choked by the grip. ''And you can trust me you won't see another one ever again.''

''How's that?'' snarled Viggo, narrowing his eyes.

Hiccup wheezed loudly, but he still forced some more words out, using the last bit of air remaining in his lungs. ''Let's just say, they're not from around here.'' he said, and looked past the Hunter.

Viggo froze on the spot when he heard grim growling and felt an overwhelming presence right behind him. The man dared cast a look behind him to see the black dragon towering over him, teeth bared and eyes narrowed on him. Hiccup took the opportunity while Viggo was distracted to free himself from his grip, grabbing his sore throat and coughing multiple times.

Shadowdrift lowered his head and puffed a warm breath from his nostril next to the Hunter's ears, warning him he wouldn't hesitate to use his fire again. Aware he had no choice, Viggo rose his hands up and the NightWing shoved the key to Hiccup. The Rider caught it with his bound hands and rushed to unlock the door. He struggled to fit the key in the hole but still managed to get it to open. They wouldn't have much time to get out of here now.

"Good job, big guy,'' gasped Hiccup, fighting for breath. He turned to Viggo who wore a stern look, clearly upset he'd lost to this. ''What do you say we get out of here, huh?'' Shadowdrift nodded firmly and with a claw, sliced the rope to free his wrists.

''Guards!'' called Viggo, unmoving. The shout echoed down the tunnels, and both dragon and Rider shared a look of uneasiness.

Hiccup held his ground as he heard the shouts of men approaching and looked up to the dragon. He listened for where the noises of approaching footsteps came from to know which path they should take, but it was too late for that when an arrow whistled past his head. He twisted around, gasping as he watched Dragon Hunters running in their direction, Viggo unmoving where he stood as he smiled in satisfaction with a wave of heavily-armed men behind him.

''Go, go, go! Run!'' shouted Hiccup to the NightWing, waving him away. Shadowdrift didn't hesitate and started galloping down the tunnel, where Toothless' head had showed. But the Night Fury had gone when he turned the corner, Hiccup running close behind him.

Arrows flew by, a bit too close and Hiccup had to duck to avoid one in the back of the neck. A high-pitched whistle suddenly stopped brutally as the cutting end grazed Hiccup's shin, making him inhale sharply and fall behind.

Shadowdrift's ear twitched at the gasp of pain and twisted his massive neck to see Hiccup had stumbled and the Dragon Hunters were closing in fast on him. Roaring in despair, Shadowdrift braked on his rear and immediately took off again to get to him before the Hunters did.

Groaning, Hiccup managed to pick himself up when Shadowdrift passed by him and double back right away, giving the Rider a chance to grab on to his neck. With the angle and momentum, Hiccup swung his leg over the dragon's back, but unfortunately, Shadowdrift was just too high and the boy remained grasping at the NightWing's pale spikes, half-mounted. Still running, the young dragon twisted his head to shove him on his back and Hiccup finally swung his leg on the other side of the mount.

Hiccup watched ahead as the tunnel widened, the walls on each side of them a blur as they sped their way out of here. The fresh breeze of night washed over them as Shadowdrift exited the tunnel. He caught the form of a blue dragon from the corner of his eye and next thing he knew, a purple light flashed and an explosion followed as Toothless blasted the entrance of the underground dungeon, an awful place to be as a dragon or a simple enemy to the Dragon Hunters. The roof crumbled, the sound like thunder in a storm, and next thing you knew a cloud of dust rose in the air, trapping Viggo and his men underground.

Shadowdrift slowed to a stop and reached the spot where the Night Fury awaited, Astrid on Stormfly standing by his side.

''Well, they're not going anywhere for a while.'' said Astrid, walking her Deadly Nadder closer to the NightWing Hiccup was riding. Toothless roared sharply and bounced to his rider as he slid off the night dragon's back. He wrapped his arms around his best friend's head, scratching him intensely.

''Oh, Toothless,'' he said to his buddy, breaking apart to look him in the eyes. ''I'm so sorry, bud.'' But the Night Fury only licked him back, wetting his rider's face with saliva. Hiccup groaned in disgust, shaking the liquid off.

Then suddenly, despite the happy moment where no Hunters could be present from Stormfly and Astrid's work, Toothless bared his teeth and dropped low, growling deeply as his wild eyes searched the light forest ahead of them.

''Toothless?'' called Hiccup, looking where his dragon's eyes were locked. ''What's up?''

Shadowdrift's ears went straight up as he listened for noises, and sure enough, he could scent dragons moving around them. Stormfly squawked threateningly, raising every single deadly spike on her tail, ready to fire.

Hiccup narrowed his eyes as he searched where the three dragons where focused and finally saw movements of big dragons staring them down, approaching slowly as one big group. Just when they had hope for this whole thing to be over, Hiccup thought he could never have been more wrong in his whole life.


	20. Chapter 20

**No much views for last chapter... you guys still alive? I'm still publishing. Enjoy, the end is near!**

* * *

Deep growls rumbled in front of them and it was hard to tell where each dragon was. One species was as black as the dead of night and the other could blend in with its surroundings.

Hiccup backed away slowly against Toothless' side while the Night Fury narrowed his eye to slits, preparing a plasma blast in his mouth for precaution. The purple light glowed down his throat, followed by the intensifying whistle.

A scarred NightWing head revealed itself from the darkness, the body following massive compared to the dragonet standing next to the Night Fury and Hiccup. Shadowdrift's heart skipped a beat while his terrified eyes shifted rapidly from one dragon to the other, the eyes of both NightWings and RainWings wild as they faced them. It took some time to study his tribe's aggressive behavior but the young dragonet finally understood that their focus wasn't on him, but on the Rider and his loyal dragon.

'' _Deathbringer, don't this.''_ pleaded Shadowdrift, slowly backing away as the ex-assassin took one step at the time closer to them, his expression so frightening he thought he could be able to freeze him on the spot with his deadly glare. But despite the young NightWing's plea, Deathbringer bared his many teeth at him in warning and returned his focus on killing on what he believed to be just another scavenger ready to destroy everything in its path to get what it wanted.

''They are your friends, right, big guy?'' asked Hiccup nervously, his hands held up before him to show no harm. But that trick clearly wasn't working as the night dragon crawled forward, the distance closing in on him and the beast. Even with the fearsome Night Fury growling warningly at him, Deathbringer ignored him, considering Toothless just another animal. Hiccup's eyes shifted from Deathbringer to Shadowdrift. ''Can't you just tell them we're not food?''

Some dragons that stood behind flinched slightly before deciding they didn't like understanding scavengers and carried on glaring at the boy. When Deathbringer was only a few feet away from Hiccup's face while the teenager pressed his back against his dragon's side, drawing back his head, the NightWing parted his jaws slowly, saliva dripping from his fangs.

Shadowdrift watched helplessly, his brown eyes round with terror as he held his ground next to the older dragon.

Stormfly roared while spreading her wings and Toothless prepared to leap, his dull claws drawing in the dirt. But right as the NightWing parted his jaws to grab the scavenger's head between his strong teeth and snatch it off to throw it away amongst his followers to show them their victory, a loud commanding roar echoed all around and Deathbringer froze in the instant the familiar voice reached his ears.

'' _Stand down!''_ called a female RainWing and every dragon from Pyrrhia looked up to the dawn sky to see a figure hovering down gently until her sharp thin talons met the ground.

Deathbringer twisted his head around sharply, forgetting about the threat before him. His ears straight up and eyes round in delight, he turned his back on Hiccup and bounced to his queen, twining his tail with hers.

 _''My Queen,'_ ' he said, so relieved his beloved was alright after what happened during the battle. ' _'I thought I'd lost you.''_

But Glory only gave him a genuine smile and shifted her attention on the scavenger standing next to a smaller black dragon with toxic green eyes close to one out of the two dragonets who'd gotten them all into this huge mess.

At the sight of his queen, Shadowdrift's eyes widened in surprise and he immediately advanced before her and bowed. With the highest respect, he said, _''Queen Glory, I can explain.''_

But when he looked up, to his disbelief, all Queen Glory did was smirk and shake her head. _''There's no need for explanation, young one,''_ she said, looking down with such gentle eyes at the confused dragonet.

Shadowdrift didn't understand. Why wasn't she angry or ordering her faithful followers to pursue at killing Hiccup and Toothless? But all came clear as another dragon flew down from above, its buzzing wings belonging to none other than a Gronckle.

''Fishlegs!'' exclaimed Hiccup, straightening up in delight at the arrival of his teammate. ''You made it!''

Meatlug hovered a bit before landing as dragons made space, retreated closer to the forest's edge as they stared at the strange beast with bewildered looks.

''Well of course,'' said Fishlegs as if it were obvious while patting congratulations to his dragon. ''My dragon knowledge skills could never fail me.''

'' _Those scavengers sure are more welcoming than in Pyrrhia,''_ commented Glory to Shadowdrift as she listened to the short exchange between the two Riders. _''I can't believe Deathbringer nearly killed this one.''_ She gestured of a paw at Hiccup who discretely mounted upon Toothless, taking precautions in case one decided to get too close again.

'' _Hiccup and the Dragon Riders saved my life, Queen Glory,''_ said Shadowdrift, turning to look at the duo. _''They would never harm any dragon.''_

'' _And they've proven that.''_ replied Glory, gazing at Fishlegs. The scavenger had tended to her while she was suffering the burns of a blast. No other creature had been this kind to her, and as a return for their kindness, the queen would make sure no scavenger friend to dragons such as these ones would get killed by the members of her own tribe. And that included Deathbringer's obsessive behavior at avenging his beloved queen he had thought was dead. But now it was all over and Glory had finally found both missing dragonets without any lost dragon during this journey to another world. _''Of course, now that everything is settled,''_ She cast a look at Deathbringer who only smiled back awkwardly and then returned to the two smaller dragons. _''I think it's time we headed home.''_

Shadowdrift's gaze dropped slowly to the ground, and looked back up to the RainWing. _''Fair enough,_ '' he said quietly. Something about it didn't feel right, but the feeling was pushed aside when the figure of another dragonet caught the corner of his eye and he watched as Darklight approached to join his side. She gave him a loving smile, understanding that he felt some sort of attached to this different world despite the whole Dragon Hunter conflict.

Queen Glory rose her head high and turned around, gesturing to the two NightWings to follow her. The rest of the dragons that had volunteered to join the search party to retrieve their lost tribe members did the same and spread their wings to take to the air, the horizon bright as the sun rose from the line between ocean and sky.

They were going home, but Shadowdrift couldn't understand why he wasn't as rejoined as Darklight about it. Sure, he'd be back home in the rainforest where it was safe for a NightWing like him, among his tribe and protected by his queen. And one day he'd join the Jade Mountain Academy where he'd meet with a whole new bunch of different dragons, but no adventure could be greater than this one. And Shadowdrift wasn't sure he wanted it to end.


	21. Chapter 21

The warm rays of the morning sun brought a comfortable atmosphere on the Isle of Night, a couple hours after Queen Glory interfered just in time to stop Deathbringer from killing Hiccup. Shadowdrift couldn't allow his imagination to carry him to different outcomes if Fishlegs and Meatlug hadn't saved the queen when they did and made her see the distinction between the Hunters and Riders. The carefree dragons that hadn't bothered to make the difference between the two tribes had finally seen the good side and now treated the Dragon Riders like their own. But sadly, these new and formidable allies couldn't remain in this world. It wasn't where they belonged. Their home was in Pyrrhia, and Shadowdrift and Darklight understood that it was time to part.

The group of outland dragons gathered around the cavity of the small cliff that had been the gateway to this place, the punch hole to this wild world. Queen Glory approached the metal chain stuck in the stone and tugged on it twice to receive two tugs in return. It had been their code messages to communicate with dragons waiting on the other side. Glory turned to her party and stepped aside, allowing them to cross first. After all, she was their leader and a good leader made sure her own was safe before her. Blue light flashed as NightWings and RainWings crossed the portal and arrived to NightWing Island. When all had gone through and only Shadowdrift and Darklight remained along with the queen, the two dragonets turned to face the Riders, Hiccup and Toothless especially.

Shadowdrift looked down at the little human with downhearted eyes, deep growls of sorrow coming down his throat.

''It's okay, big guy,'' said Hiccup, reaching out a hand to press against the NightWing's nuzzle. The warmth of the dragon's breath enveloped Hiccup's hand and the boy smiled back at him in goodbye. ''Maybe we'll meet again sometime. Who knows?''

Toothless roared at Shadowdrift, and Hiccup stepped aside to give the two dragons space to exchange. The Night Fury rubbed his large head against the NightWing. As strange as it should've felt to Shadowdrift to act like an animal, he still gave the same response and shut his eyes while the smaller dragon cooed loudly against his ear. When the two parted, Shadowdrift could see the sadness and loneliness settling in Toothless' toxic green eyes. He hadn't seen any other dragon of his kind and wondered where his family could be.

'' _Shadowdrift,''_ called Queen Glory waiting next to the rock wall, he expression comprehensive despite her order. _''It's time to go home.''_

Darklight gave a weak smile to the Dragon Riders who'd given her a home while she was trapped here with Shadowdrift and turned her back to join her queen. Shadowdrift followed more slowly after taking one last good look at his friends who waved goodbye of their little scavenger paws and forced his heavy talons to leave the stony floor to join the RainWing and NightWing.

He knew it would be wrong to stay here. He wasn't a Night Fury after all. He needed to go back to Pyrrhia, with his mother and his tribe - go back to his own environment. But as much as he knew that, he couldn't ignore the bond that'd been born during his journey with Hiccup and Toothless. They'd saved each other multiple times and he just couldn't believe it was coming to an end.

'' _Shadow,''_ said Darklight, stretching a starry wing over his back. _''Are you okay?''_

'' _Yeah, I'm fine,''_ replied Shadowdrift looking up at her for a split second before dropping his gaze back to the ground. He didn't want to look up at that wall either. All meant he'd never see the Riders again. And he didn't want to have to face that. _''Let's just go home.''_

They each took turn in grabbing the chain and one by one, they were pulled back into their own world. Queen Glory grabbed the chain firmly and turned to look back at the Dragon Riders. She nodded in thanks for looking after her own and Hiccup nodded back respectfully. Toothless watched his rider and did the same. He then roared loudly and fired a plasma blast in the sky that exploded with a thundering sound, its purple waves stretching large around it like a teardrop on a calm water's surface. The queen then turned back around and disappeared into the portal, back to her land. With everything back in its own place, each world was back on track. But that didn't mean a happy ending for all dragons and Vikings...

Last to cross the portal, Queen Glory landed majestically on the other side, her paws digging in ashes. Her whole party had waited for her return after the two dragonets had joined them. They were orderless and they wouldn't have left her on the other side either anyway. After the promise she'd made before they went searching for their lost tribe members, every dragon had been impressed with her speech. But now that she'd fulfilled her word, the group of NightWings and RainWings alike respected her with everything they had and would sure follow her all the way. Turning around to face the still activated animus-touched portal made so many years ago, the queen advanced to touch its black frame one last time.

''This portal is dangerous.'' she said aloud, the glowing curtain reflecting in her eyes. ''It's not safe to leave it here.''

''What are you saying?'' asked Darklight, dusting her talons from the ashes at her feet.

''I'm saying we must destroy it. Before anything else bad happens.'' replied Glory, her head high as she spoke calmly. ''We wouldn't want future dragonets to adventure through again. We've seen the dangers from this other world. Let's not face them again.''

''So, you're saying I can never see them again?'' asked Shadowdrift, his eyes full of sadness for his lost friends.

Queen Glory looked down at the dragonet, her expression soft and understanding. ''That's the way it has to be.'' she answered simply and nodded to Deathbringer grimly.

The big NightWing nodded back and gestured to other dragons to help him destroy the portal. Even though it was made by an animus dragon when this island was probably still livable, it didn't mean it was indestructible. It had been lucky to survive the wrath of the volcano for so long and now Shadowdrift watched it crumble into a pile of black stone at the talons of massive NightWings.

''None of this ever happened.'' declared Queen Glory, staring every dragon present in the room dead in the eye. ''I shall not hear a word about this anywhere, anytime.''

Shadowdrift felt the warm feeling of his best friend by his side as the dragons left to follow their queen who flew for the tunnel leading through the boulder, back into the rainforest. The young dragonet stared down at his paws, mourning his forever lost friends. Darklight approached the pile slowly and picked up a piece which she offered underneath her friend's nose.

''Here,'' she said, hoping this would make him feel better. ''As a souvenir.''

Shadowdrift looked down at the little piece of black rock and unconsciously grabbed it delicately from Darklight's palm. He parted his talons and studied the bit. But his eyes pictured the entire adventure with Hiccup, Toothless and the Riders, only making his heart ache more.

* * *

 **Long time no see, huh? I have news as well. Be sure to check out the IMPORTANT MESSAGE that I'll be posting in a short.**

 **Rain, out!**


	22. Chapter 22

The following weeks passed by without Shadowdrift noticing. Most of the time he'd stay confined in his hut and would only set paw outside when the stars glittered and the three moons shone brightly. That had been the time of the night he had felt Toothless the most alive. That's when he belonged to the sky. Not during the warmth of the day when his dark figure was black against blue. Toothless had been like no other dragon he'd ever met. And he'd never forget him nor Hiccup and the Dragon Riders.

Reaching to hold tight to his little satchel dangling from his neck, Shadowdrift squeezed the fabric. Inside was the little piece of black stone Darklight had handed over to him and no time during day or night did he take it off. It was part of him now and Shadowdrift didn't deny it. He embraced the surprising pain of loneliness.

His life had sort of became mundane and despite Darklight's positive attitude and understanding of his behavior, nothing seemed to ever be able to change that. That was until his best friend began visiting him less and less every day. Nobody knew where she'd disappear to and no one really questioned because she always came back eventually, even in the middle of the night.

Shadowdrift poked his head out of his cabin as calmness settled in the village. His brown eyes reflected the moons' bright light as he looked up to the indigo night sky dotted with sparkly stars much like any NightWing's wings. Discreetly, Shadowdrift climbed up to the roof and stretched his neck up, moaning quietly as a shooting star flashed by.

''Shadow!'' called a whispering voice all too familiar from below and the young dragon looked down in surprise to see the form of Darklight standing on the platform above the rainforest's muddy floor.

Embarrassed to be caught doing so, Shadowdrift hovered back down to join his friend, his eyes avoiding her excited gaze. ''Oh, h-hey, Darklight.'' he stammered, reaching to touch the small rock piece. ''I was just…''

Darklight wanted to be patient with him but she rolled her eyes quickly and cut him off before he even started. ''Listen, you got a minute?'' she asked in a startling rush. ''There's something I want to show you. Close your eyes and follow me.''

''Okay…'' he replied hesitantly, studying his surroundings, excepting to be set up. But Darklight grabbed his forepaw before he could suspect more and dragged him off while he shut his eyes. After all, what did he have to lose?

He felt they had left the wooden planks and were now walking on the bare forest floor. The fresh dirt and jungle ferns tickled his scales, their surface wet with dew. Darklight had let go of him and he could hear leaves ruffling as she turned around to face him.

''Alright, keep coming,'' she said more softly this time and he sensed rapidly they were nearing whatever she had to show him. ''Follow the sound of my voice.'' There was a pause and Shadowdrift stopped mid-track, sniffing the air to figure out where she'd brought him. Then she talked again. ''Okay, open them.''

Shadowdrift blinked his eyes against the blackness and stared wide-eyed at a black frame towering in front of them. The last time he'd seen this he'd been heartbroken. A knot had risen in his throat and the choking air hadn't helped his difficulty breathing.

''Darklight…'' he said, speechless as he slowly approached the portal's frame. ''Is that..?''

''Sorry it took so long.'' apologized Darklight, smiling as she looked down to the ground and back to him again. ''There were a lot of stone pieces to go through.''

Shadowdrift laid a paw on the stone and noticed a cavity in it like it'd been chipped.

''You know, it only works if you have every piece,'' informed Darklight, but Shadowdrift had already figured that out. He opened the bag and grabbed the small piece with two long talons. Silence hung in the air as he inhaled deeply and pushed it in place. At first, nothing happened and he could feel Darklight holding her breath in hope it would work. And even if it didn't in the end, Shadowdrift was thankful for her efforts. He was lucky to have been given such a great friend…

But the expectation to disappointment rapidly faded as blue light flashed from the portal and a dancing curtain took form before their eyes.

''I can't believe it…'' breathed Darklight and then he jumped in the air, blasting her wings in triumph. ''It worked! Ha!''

Shadowdrift thought the same, but instead of cheering alongside her, his mind was haunted by the memories. Pictures flashed before his eyes with all the possibilities and the thoughts carried him closer to the glowing portal sitting out here deep in the dense jungle where no one set paw.

Without exactly thinking what he was doing, he pushed his grey muzzle against the dancing spirals. His heart longed to cross that cursed portal just one more time. Just one… more… time.

…

''Hey, I have an important question!'' called Tuffnut at the back of the V formation as the Dragon Riders flew across the clear night sky.

The loud exasperated sigh of their leader met every ear and Hiccup twisted around on the saddle to face the Zippleback. ''Yes, Tuff?'' he asked, frowning annoyingly.

''Why are we doing this?'' asked Tuffnut, resting forward on his half of the dragon's thin horns. ''Like, I don't get the point.''

Hiccup sighed again and returned his gaze on the twin. ''Viggo has the Dragon Eye. He managed to unlock it somehow and now he can find any dragon on the map,'' replied Hiccup for the tenth time since he'd explained what happened with Viggo in those underground tunnels. ''With such power, we need to train to be prepared anywhere, anytime.''

Tuffnut yawned in boredom, waving his hand. ''Yeah, yeah. Okay, other question,'' he said quickly and everyone rolled their eyes, except for his sister of course.

''Is it related?'' asked Astrid from Stormfly without looking back.

''Huh, of course not.'' scoffed Tuffnut as it'd been obvious. ''My sister here, _Ruffnut_ , wants to know do we have to travel in a V formation?''

''Excuse me?'' exclaimed Fishlegs who twisted around, bewildered.

''Couldn't we try another letter?'' asked Tuffnut, raising his hands in defense of these reactions.

''Yeah, like maybe a W?'' chipped in Ruffnut, forming the letter the best she could with her arms which wasn't much of a success.

''You wanna try it?'' asked Tuffnut excitingly to his sister who nodded right away. But as soon as they tried to part, the Zippleback screeched and banged its heads against one another, destabilizing their flight balance for a moment.

''Oh, rough one,'' mumbled Ruffnut as she readjusted her helmet. ''OH! How about an A?

''Nah, when you think about it it's just an inverted V.'' declined Tuffnut, thinking of another formation.

''Look, guys!'' called Hiccup from the top front. ''We fly in a V. End of the discussion.''

''And who made _you_ the boss around here?'' demanded Ruffnut, but Hiccup and everyone other Rider ignored their bickering.

Yep, everything had gone back to normal back in and outside the Archipelago… Ever since their goodbyes with the other dragons, the big guy, especially, Hiccup had noticed Toothless had been acting strange. He refused to eat most of his meals and refused to go fly on a beautiful star-lit night sky once in a while. Hiccup frowned sadly as he patted his buddy's scaly black head, receiving a quiet coo from his dragon. Hiccup had often caught him sneaking out of his hut on Dragon's Edge to stare up at the bright moon when the sky was clear. It was obvious Toothless was missing that dragon. And he couldn't blame him; Toothless was the last of his kind as far as they were concerned. It was the closest to a Night Fury Toothless had found.

''Can we go home, now?'' moaned Tuffnut from the back once again. ''I'm tired.''

Hiccup shook his head, smiling to himself. Ah, those twins will never change.

''Alright, group,'' said Hiccup, twisting his Night Fury around to face all the Riders who came to a hover in front of their leader. ''Good training tonight. Quiet and steady, just like I wanted. Except for Ruff and Tuff.'' He received poker faces from the twins at the back but he knew it was all just pretend. They started for their outpost when Toothless groaned to himself and Hiccup leaned on the side to figure what was going on.

''Toothless?'' asked Hiccup, but the dragon didn't even look and him from the corner of his green eye. ''Is everything alright, bud?'' Getting agitated, Hiccup held on to the handles of his saddle as his dragon thrashed around.

''What's wrong with him?'' asked Astrid, flying Stormfly closer.

''I'm not sure,'' answered Hiccup, noticing Toothless' ears flicking rapidly. Pulling on the handles sharply and leaning all his weight backward, he brought his dragon to a hover as he clawed the air before him, roaring at the empty. When he calmed down, Hiccup rose his gaze to the others who waited for him. ''You guys go without me. I'll fly him around a little longer and see if I can figure him out.''

With a nod, Astrid directed her Deadly Nadder at the head of the group while the others followed.

Hiccup watched them go and then brought all of his attention back on his dragon. ''Alright, bud.'' he whispered. ''Where is it you wanna go?'' At those words, Toothless roared, almost making the calm surface of the ocean beneath his wings quiver. And with a blast of his gigantic wings, the Night Fury dive-bombed for more speed, his muzzle pointing straight where he wanted to go. Hiccup lay flat on his dragon's back, the wind making his eyes water. But instead of shutting them, he stared ahead, determined to know where his buddy was taking him.

No ghostly mist was in sight and not a cloud floated above their heads. The night was perfect, but Toothless seemed too concentrated and centered on a specific goal. Hiccup couldn't either see a Dragon Hunter ship that might be traveling under the cover of darkness and started to worry what was going on.

''Toothless, where are you taking me?'' asked Hiccup as sea stacks came into view, announcing the close presence of an island. He narrowed his eyes ahead and a formation started to appear against the darkness of night. But he didn't need to wonder where he was. He knew that island all too well. Its rocky surface could belong to none other than the Isle of the Night. Feeling his heart drop, Hiccup looked down at his buddy. ''Oh, Toothless…''

The Night Fury slowed down as he neared a landing spot and dropped on all fours against the stony ground. Sniffing the air, he let his legs carry him closer to where the portal had been.

''Toothless, those dragons went back to their real home,'' said Hiccup gently, dismounting as Toothless came to a stop. He turned his head to face him, his big glowing green eyes digging into his. ''They're long gone, now. Common, let's get you back.'' He gestured with an arm to follow, but Toothless growled low and walked the other way. Hiccup looked at his best friend's form searching the place and could only title his head and let his shoulders drop.

He felt sorry for his dragon and did feel heartbroken that he still had hope that the Night Fury-like dragon would still be around. But it wasn't. At least, that's what he thought until he saw another figure move against the pitch-black shadow from the cavity formed by the short cliff. Hiccup stared speechlessly as the NightWing form of Shadowdrift stepped out from the darkness and stopped a distance away from where Toothless stood. It was almost like a ghost that was visiting its old friends from another life, but both Rider and dragon knew this was very real.

Toothless kept low to the stone floor, moaning questioningly up at the NightWing who couldn't help but smile in delight. Hiccup couldn't believe his eyes. Toothless had known he'd see him again. For some twisted reason, he'd felt this couldn't be how the story would end. Maybe it had been echoes in the night that had called him back here… Back to the place that met another world. Whatever the reason, one thing was for sure. Even when these two dragons belonged to different worlds, even when they were breaking nature's rules, these two friends would always find a way to see each other again. Because wherever they came from, whether they liked it or not, they were, after all, children of the moon.

 _The end._

* * *

 **It has been two years since I've posted the first chapter of this story and I finally posted the last. It has been my pleasure and I look forward to writing another crossover. Which I will.**

 ***coughs* Trollhunters. *coughs* *coughs***

 **Don't forget the IMPORTANT MESSAGE I'll be posting, especially you guys who've read Children of the Moon.**

 **I'll see you then!**


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